


Morphing

by Tkeyla



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Time, M/M, Mpreg, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-28 00:35:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tkeyla/pseuds/Tkeyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The members of Five-0 are part of the Human population who can change form, morphing into any animal within their range.</p>
<p>When Danny moves to Hawaii, he has trouble finding his way to morphing. With the right impetus and help from his ohana, he is able to once again morph at will. </p>
<p>He and Steve come together and make a family, including their children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morphing Morphers who Morph

**Author's Note:**

> I know mpreg is often frowned on. I understand. This story really wanted to be written so I did.
> 
> I hope you can forgive me!

“Seriously?” Danny said, aiming his gun dead center mass of the giant white polar bear he found in the garage.  
  
The bear growled but didn’t move from where it was standing in the corner. Danny considered circling around so the big black Marquis was between him and bear but decided to stand his ground.  
  
“I know you aren’t a real bear. Morph back and we’ll discuss this like two adult…Humans,” Danny said gesturing with his gun. As he watched, the bear shrunk in size but not by much. The tall naked man facing him was all taut muscles and intricate tattoos.  
  
“Turn around,” the tall man said, circling with his finger.  
  
“You got nothing I ain’t seen,” Danny grumbled, turning his back to the man as he collected his clothes.  
  
“How did you know?”  
  
“Know what?” Danny asked, peeking over his shoulder.  
  
“That I’m not really a bear,” the man said, coming closer now that he was fully dressed in cargo pants and blue shirt.  
  
“You’re clothes were waiting for you,” Danny said, raising his gun at the man. “Now, who are you and why are you contaminating my crime scene?”  
  
“Oh, it’s _your_ crime scene,” the man said, looking around the garage. “No wonder nothing’s going on.”  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danny demanded. “And who the hell are you?”  
  
“Commander Steve McGarrett.”  
  
“Oh,” Danny said, slowly holstering his gun. “I’m very sorry for your loss. But you can’t be here.”  
  
“Yeah, I can. The Governor appointed me to head up a task force and finding the terrorist who killed my father is my first job.”  
  
“So why didn’t you just tell me that? Why turn into a polar bear?” Danny asked.  
  
“Instinct,” Steve admitted.  
  
“You morph in the Army?” Danny asked.  
  
“Navy. I am in the Navy. And I morph when I need to. You’re a morpher,” Steve said, waving vaguely at the man in front of him. It only sounded a little like a question. Mostly it sounded like confirmation of what he already knew.  
  
“Not for some time,” Danny said.  
  
“Why’s that?” Steve asked. “You think it’s against _God’s will_?”  
  
“Don’t give me that shit. I don’t have any religious objections to morphing. I haven’t been able to since I moved to this sand infested hellhole.”  
  
“ _Sand infested hellhole_?” Steve repeated. “Most people think of Hawaii as paradise.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure _most people_ do. But _most people_ aren’t forced to give up their jobs and lives to follow their shrew of an ex-wife halfway across the world to be close to their daughter who they only get to see a few short hours a week. And _most people_ don’t discover once they’ve arrived on this God-forsaken volcanic rock that they can no longer morph.” Danny was waving his right hand in order to encompass Hawaii and the ocean and all things which prevented him from morphing.  
  
“You can’t morph here?” Steve asked, measuring Danny with a glance.  
  
“Isn’t that what I just said?” Danny demanded. “Back home, back in Jersey, I morphed whenever I had the notion. Not here.”  
  
Steve tilted his head, considering the shorter man. “Maybe it’s because you wear a tie.”  
  
“A tie?” Danny repeated, smoothing it down. “I wore a tie in Jersey and had no problem. And I like to look like a professional.”  
  
“A professional what?”  
  
“Look who’s talking, Mr. Cargo Pants and Tee Shirt,” Danny retorted.  
  
Steve shrugged at that. “So what’s your name?”  
  
“Detective Danny Williams, HPD,” Danny said. “I was assigned your father’s case. I’ll go back to the precinct and tell my captain I need a new case.”  
  
“Or you could help me. You’ve been doing research, right? You can tell me what you already found out. So I don’t have to start from scratch,” Steve said. It was a reasonable suggestion, he thought. Unfortunately, the short, blond haole still occupying the garage did not agree.  
  
“Help you?” Danny said, tasting the words. He would have spit them out if he’d been able to. “Help you.”  
  
“Is that such a hard concept to understand? Did you also lose your ability to comprehend basic vocabulary when you moved here?” Steve asked.  
  
Danny’s face scrunched up, revealing even greater unhappiness although Steve wouldn’t have thought it possible. “It’s guys like you who think they know everything that makes my job harder. You’ve already contaminated the crime scene. If the terrorists are morphers, we won’t be able to distinguish their traces from yours. I bet you touched the furniture in the house. So much for usable fingerprints.” Danny would have listed the numerous other ways in which Steve had ruined the chances of finding his father’s killer but Steve held up a firm hand.  
  
“First of all, I know who killed my father. Victor Hesse. He’s not a morpher. I don’t need to _identify_ him. I need to _find_ him.”  
  
“How can you be so sure? Do you have double top secret ESP powers that you can use to determine murderers?” Danny asked, skepticism in every syllable he uttered.  
  
“I was on the phone with my father when he died. I talked to Hesse right after he pulled the trigger.” Steve reported these facts in a clear, even tone. But Danny was not unaware of the pain hidden in the depths of Steve’s slate grey eyes.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Danny said, pausing to consider everything the other man had said. His barely disguised loss and sadness tugged at something deep inside Danny. Setting right these sorts of wrongs was the reason he’d become a cop to start with. “All right. I’ll help you find Victor Hesse. Then we’ll part ways and run into each other on rare occasions at the grocery story.”  
  
Steve nodded but secretly knew he’d found the first member of his task force. He had a pretty good idea of the second member. In fact, talking to Chin Ho Kelly was next on his to-do list, providing Chin Ho was in Human form and where he was expected to be. If not, they would wait at his job until he landed and morphed back into Human shape.  
  
“What now?” Danny asked, following Steve back into the house. Danny decided he would call the cleaners as soon as he had a minute because Steve should not be expected to clear the crime scene of his own father’s remains.  
  
Steve glanced around the sunroom where his father had been murdered and shook his head. Eventually he would no longer hear his father’s voice telling Steve how proud he was of him. Steve didn’t know if he wanted that day to come sooner or later – later to hold on to his last memory, or sooner so the sound of John dying would not be the first thing he heard in the morning and the last thing he heard at night.  
  
“Hey,” Danny said, laying a hand on Steve’s arm.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve said, shaking himself. “We need to go talk to a friend of mine. He may be able to give us a lead on how Hesse got on the island and how he plans to get off.”  
  
“Okay,” Danny agreed, following Steve out and to his Camaro. He looked up at Steve when he stopped by the driver’s seat, frowning. “What? What are you doing?”  
  
“I should drive. I know the islands.”  
  
“I’ve lived here for six months. I’m pretty sure I can successfully navigate us to wherever your friend is,” Danny said.  
  
“Let me drive,” Steve said as though Danny hadn’t said anything.  
  
“It’s my car,” Danny tried.  
  
“It’s my case.”  
  
“Funny. I thought I was _our_ case.”  
  
“Right. Our case,” Steve said, still holding his hands out in anticipation of Danny surrendering the keys. “Give me the keys.”  
  
Danny sighed and made a show of slowly pulling them out of his pocket. “Fine. Let the record show that I did not give you these keys willingly.”  
  
“So noted,” Steve agreed as he folded himself into the Camaro and adjusted the seat as well the mirrors to accommodate his taller height.  
  
“Make yourself at home. Not like it’s my car or anything,” Danny said as Steve continued to adjust everything that could be adjusted.  
  
Steve had the audacity to shrug and look completely innocent as he pulled away from his house.  
  
“So who’s this friend we’re going to see?” Danny asked as the scenery whizzed by at an alarming speed.  
  
“Chin Ho Kelly. Used to be with HPD,” Steve said.  
  
“Kelly. I think I’ve heard of him,” Danny said.  
  
“He’s good people. If you heard he stole from HPD, it’s not true,” Steve told him.  
  
“All right,” Danny replied, nothing further to add to the conversation. He sensed that anything else he might say on the subject of Chin Ho Kelly would not unwelcome.  
  
“So what’s your range?” Steve asked, glancing over at Danny with a measuring look.  
  
“Mammals.”  
  
“Okay. Which ones?” Steve asked.  
  
“All of them,” Danny said with a dismissive shrug.  
  
“You can morph into all the mammals?” Steve asked. His voice held an air on disbelief to which Danny had become accustom  
  
“I could in Jersey, yeah.”  
  
“All the mammals,” Steve repeated, still trying to believe it.  
  
“My mother is sea mammals. My father is land mammals. I’m all mammals,” Danny explained. “What about you?”  
  
“Sea mammals,” Steve said. “I can’t believe you are total mammals.”  
  
“I know that less than 1% of all morphers are total mammals. But that doesn’t make me any less of one. Or it didn’t when I could morph.”  
  
“Have you asked a nynisia why you are blocked?” Steve asked.  
  
“I can’t find one who will talk to me,” Danny said. “My HPD partner Meko is checking some locals. If he puts in a good word, I’m hoping one will give me a consultation.”  
  
“There are some haole nynisia on the islands,” Steve told him.  
  
“I haven’t found one. If you have the name of one, I’d talk to him or her,” Danny said. He sound weary, his inability to morph wearing him down.  
  
“I know a nynisia – an old family friend. I’ll call him after we see Chin Ho.”  
  
“Okay,” Danny said with a nod.  
  
“You have siblings?” Steve asked.  
  
“A brother. He’s a non. My one sister is an ikhthus. The other is canine. Her favorite form is a wolf.”  
  
“Does the ikhthus need to submerged in water to survive?” Steve asked.  
  
“She rarely morphs. She has four children so her time is very limited to swim as a fish. Three of her kids are nons. The fourth is land mammals,” Danny said. “You?”  
  
“One sister. She’s a non.”  
  
Danny nodded, looking at the change of scenery as Steve pulled into Pearl Harbor, parking in one of the tourist lots. Danny followed him to the gift shop, stopping at the snack bar.  
  
“Hi Bobby,” Steve said to the teenager behind the counter. “Chin around?”  
  
“He’s aloft,” Bobby said. “Flew off about half an hour ago. I expect him back any time.”  
  
“Good,” Steve nodded. “We’ll have two beers while we wait.”  
  
Bobby got them out of the cooler, opening the bottles before handing them over.  
  
“Chin’s avian?” Danny asked.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “He loves it. His family is afraid one day he’ll forget to morph back.”  
  
“I know the feeling,” Danny agreed, sitting at one of the empty tables to wait with Steve.  
  
“Is your daughter a morpher?” Steve asked.  
  
“She’s only 8 so we won’t know for a few years. I married a non,” Danny said.  
  
“Did that contribute to the divorce?”  
  
“Maybe. I don’t know. Mostly it was me being a cop. She wasn’t ready for what that really meant.”  
  
“Yeah,” Steve said.  
  
“Your parents morphers?” Danny asked.  
  
“Dad was. He was ikhthus like your sister. I guess that’s why I’m sea mammals.”  
  
“A polar bear isn’t technically a sea mammal,” Danny pointed out.  
  
“It only lives near the sea,” Steve said. “It swims like a sea mammal.”  
  
“There is that,” Danny agreed, standing when Steve did. He was going out toward a small hut marked _Security_ where a gigantic bald eagle had just landed.  
  
“Chin,” Steve said. The eagle looked up at Steve before glancing over at Danny. “He’s a friend. We need to talk to you about my father’s murder.”  
  
The eagle nodded, disappearing into the hut before shortly reappearing as a man, dressed in dark teal shirt and shorts.  
  
“Chin Ho Kelly, this is Danny Williams,” Steve said.  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Danny said, holding out a hand to shake.  
  
“You too. Meka tells me you are 100% good people,” Chin said.  
  
“Especially for a haole,” Danny said.  
  
“It gets better,” Chin assured him. “It would help if you lost the tie.”  
  
“I like to look like a professional,” Danny said again. “No, don’t bother. ‘A professional what?’, right?”  
  
Chin nodded. “Guilty as charged. What can I do for you?”  
  
“I need to know how Hesse got on the island and how he’ll get off,” Steve explained. “He had have been back-channeled in. I figure you still have contacts that can help me find the ones who helped him.”  
  
“My informants won’t talk to you,” Chin warned. “They don’t trust haoles.”  
  
“I was born here,” Steve reminded him.  
  
“Doesn’t matter. You aren’t native. Don’t trust white people.”  
  
“Do you have any idea who might have helped him?” Danny asked. “Hesse is a haole, right? Maybe the people who smuggled him in are haoles too.”  
  
“Not likely,” Chin said. “The biggest players on the island are natives. He’d have bought their cooperation.”  
  
“There is that,” Steve agreed. “Okay. Can you ask around?”  
  
“You want me to help you with the investigation?” Chin asked, frowning up at Steve.  
  
“I know you want to help find John’s murderer,” Steve said.  
  
“Yeah but I’m a rubber gun. I got no authority,” Chin pointed out.  
  
“Tell him about your task force,” Danny prompted.  
  
“Task force?” Chin said, still frowning in confusion. “What task force?”  
  
“Governor Jameson appointed me to head up a task force to take down scum like Hesse. I have means and immunity. Join me and I’ll get your badge back,” Steve said.  
  
“You don’t want me, Steve,” Chin said with a sad laugh. “HPD won’t deal with you if you take me on.”  
  
“Let me worry about that. Come aboard and help us find Hesse,” Steve said.  
  
“I’ll help you find him but I’m making no promises beyond that,” Chin said, Steve nodding.  
  
“Fine. Let’s go talk to your informants,” Steve said, turning toward the parking lot.  
  
“Wait just a minute, GIJoe. We can’t go storming in and demanding answers from Chin’s informants. He needs to put out feelers, get the lay of the land, make the first contacts,” Danny said.  
  
“Hesse could be leaving as we speak,” Steve said in anger.  
  
“He could have already left. Another two hours isn’t going to change that,” Danny said, glancing over at Chin who was studying the two of them. “Chin, will you call your leads? I’ll try to stop GIJoe from storming their houses.”  
  
“I’ll make some calls,” Chin agreed. “I’ll give you a call when I have something solid.”  
  
“Fine,” Steve said. He turned back toward the parking lot, stopped by Danny’s hand on his arm. “What now?”  
  
“Tell Chin thank you, Steven,” Danny directed.  
  
“What? I’m not five,” Steve protested.  
  
“No, you are a grown man who should know about manners. This isn’t a SEAL op. Tell Chin thank you and we’ll go drive way too fast around the islands,” Danny said.  
  
Steve had a look of incredulity of his face. Chin was barely containing his laughter. Danny was waiting, looking up at Steve in expectation. “Thank you, Chin, for your help.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Steve,” Chin said, laughing at him.  
  
“Good,” Danny said. “Now we’re going to go find the man who sold Victor Hesse the gun he used.”  
  
“Good plan,” Chin agreed.  
  
“You know who sold him the gun?” Steve asked as they went to the parking lot.  
  
“You apparently have my case notes. The ballistics report is in there. The gun came from a particularly low form of life called Fred Doran. Bad news from the word go,” Danny said, getting into the passenger seat without complaint. Although he did consider bitching about it being his car but realized the futility of it.  
  
“I’m in the Navy,” Steve said out of the blue.  
  
“Okay,” Danny replied, turning in his seat to look over at him. “What brought this on?”  
  
“You keep calling me GIJoe. I’m a SEAL.”  
  
“Whatever. At least I didn’t call you Barbie or Ken,” Danny pointed out.  
  
“I suggest you not,” Steve said, making Danny laugh.  
  
“I’ll keep it in mind. Do you know where you’re going?”  
  
“To find Fred Doran,” Steve said.  
  
“And what is his address?” Danny asked.  
  
“Uhmm… what is his address?” Steve finally asked, glancing over at Danny.  
  
Danny gave it to him, laughing at his expression.  
  
“Is Doran a morpher?” Steve asked.  
  
“Not as far as I can tell. I checked his record. There’s no range listed. That generally means no,” Danny said.  
  
“All right.”  
  
They drove mostly in silence to the address Danny had provided him, arriving at the not-so-great part of town. There were quite a few people out and around, shopping at the tiny curb market across the street from Doran’s address.  
  
Steve drew his gun and started toward one of the shacks.  
  
“Wait,” Danny said. “Doran is a shooter. We need to be careful. And if we find him, we need to call for backup.”  
  
“You’re the backup,” Steve said, continuing on his way to the door of the house that matched the number Danny had given him. There was shouting from inside, Steve crouching low to avoid detection. That made no difference when a woman stormed out, followed by the man yelling. He spotted Steve and Danny, rushing back inside where he picked up the automatic weapon, firing it through the door. The impact sent Danny backward over the railing. “Danny,” Steve yelled.  
  
“Go. Go. Go,” Danny yelled back.  
  
Steve took off through the house, loosing sight of Doran. Steve crossed the street, jumping a car that failed to stop in time. He spotted Doran, shouting at him to drop his gun. Rather than obey, Doran grabbed a random woman, terrifying her when he held his gun to her head.  
  
“Put it down. I’ll kill her. I swear I will,” Doran yelled at Steve.  
  
“Okay, okay,” Steve said, dropping his gun and raising his hands. Just as Doran aimed his gun at Steve, he lurched forward, dead before he hit the ground. Behind him stood Danny, his gun still up. “You just killed our only suspect.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Danny said, checking on the woman who had been briefly held hostage. Certain she was unharmed, he sent her on her way.  
  
“You killed our only suspect,” Steve repeated as Danny approached.  
  
“It was kill him or let him kill you,” Danny pointed out. “Kill or be killed. Tell me I made the wrong choice.”  
  
Steve frowned down at him before focusing on the black and whites that had arrived during the chaos. Danny explained to the responding officers what had happened, promising that he and Steve would provide their full statements as soon as they got to police headquarters.  
  
Certain the scene was secure and would be appropriately process, Steve turned abrupt for the Camaro. “Come on.” He had been restlessly pacing while Danny talked to the officer, Danny a little surprised Steve hadn’t just left him.  
  
“I’m here. We’re going some place new for me to get shot?” Danny asked.  
  
“I’m taking you to the hospital so you can get patched up. Then we’re going to check in with Chin,” Steve explained as patiently as he possibly could.  
  
“I’m fine. I can’t currently morph but the shot only grazed me. It’s healed already,” Danny said, showing Steve his arm.  
  
“You’re a regenerator?” Steve asked, touching the rip in Danny’s shirt sleeve. The skin beneath was pink but healed.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “Comes with being all mammals, I guess.”  
  
“Handy,” Steve said, pulling the Camaro into the street.  
  
“If I get shot-shot, I won’t heal,” Danny warned him. “Well, I will eventually, like a non would. Major damage is still major damage.”  
  
“Noted,” Steve confirmed. “Call Chin and ask if he got the info.”  
  
“How do you propose I do that when I have no idea what his phone number is?” Danny said. When Steve reached into one of his numerous pockets for his phone, Danny scrolled through the contacts until he found Chin’s number. “Hey, it’s Danny.”  
  
“I have a CI who thinks he knows a guy who can help,” Chin said.  
  
“Good. Doran became a dead end once I’d killed him,” Danny said.  
  
“Oops,” Chin said.  
  
“It was him or Steve. I hope I made the right choice,” Danny said, glancing over at Steve who frowned at him.  
  
“Do you know where the shaved ice stand is by Ala Wai Park?” Chin asked.  
  
“No but I’m sure Steve does.”  
  
“I’ll meet you there,” Chin said, hanging up.  
  
“Shaved ice stand by Ala Wai Park,” Danny said.  
  
“Roger that,” Steve said, driving far too fast through downtown.  
  
They arrived at the park shortly after Chin, Steve paying the large native Chin identified as Kamekona $200 for two shaved ice and two way-too-big tee shirts. As Steve and Danny tried pretending they weren’t uncomfortable in the shirts and were interested in the shaved ice, Chin obtained the info that they were seeking.  
  
“This is a fashion statement,” Chin laughed.  
  
“Tell me this humiliation is worth it,” Steve requested.  
  
“I got the identity of the person Kamekona says is tops in back-channeling,” Chin agreed.  
  
“Good. Let’s go,” Steve said, throwing out the shaved ice.  
  
“Again, we can’t go storming in,” Danny said, stopping him.  
  
“Danny’s right. We need to proceed with caution so we can get leverage. We need someone undercover,” Chin said. “And I have just the person.”  
  
“Yeah?” Steve asked.  
  
“Yeah,” Chin confirmed. “She’s up on the North Shore. I’ll meet you there.”  
  
“Right,” Steve said, getting into the Camaro as Chin mounted his bike.  
  
“The North Shore,” Danny said in resignation.  
  
“She must be a surfer,” Steve said.  
  
“Sand. Ocean. Too much sun.”  
  
“Skimpily clad women,” Steve suggested.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny sighed. “My daughter wants to be one of those skimpily clad surfers.”  
  
“It’s inevitable,” Steve told him. “You won’t be able to stop it.”  
  
“As I am all too aware,” Danny said.  
  
“You should learn to surf. It’s something you and she could share.”  
  
“Maybe. Maybe when I can morph again I will. Not too keen on going into the water as only a Human.”  
  
“Tell me you can swim as a Human,” Steve said, glancing over at him.  
  
“I can swim as a Human. I choose not to,” Danny retorted.  
  
“More likely you can’t,” Steve laughed.  
  
“Shut up,” Danny requested. Steve just laughed again, making Danny frown even harder.  
  
It wasn’t much longer before Steve pulled off the road onto a sandy parking lot. Chin was waiting, leaning against his motorcycle. Steve and Danny followed him across the beach, watching a woman gracefully ride her surfboard like she was born to it.  
  
“Kono,” Chin said, pointing out toward her. “My baby cousin.”  
  
“She a morpher?” Danny asked Chin.  
  
“Yeah – feline,” Chin said.  
  
“Feline. I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Danny said.  
  
“They are very graceful creatures,” Steve reminded him.  
  
“There is that,” Danny had to agree.  
  
“What is your range?” Chin asked Danny.  
  
“Mammals. When I can morph. Not since I got here,” Danny said.  
  
“That sucks,” Chin said as he went further down the beach to hug the beautiful young woman who had ended up on the beach. “Cuz. You are the woman.”  
  
“Chin,” she responded with a broad smile. “What brings you here?”  
  
Chin pointed over his shoulder. “This is Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams. We need your help finding the man who killed Steve’s father.”  
  
“Help?” she asked, glancing up at Steve before turning back to Chin. “Help how?”  
  
Chin explained about the human smugglers and that they needed Kono to infiltrate the operation.  
  
“Chin says you’re in the Academy,” Steve said.  
  
“I’ll be graduating next week,” Kono said happily.  
  
“Perfect. You okay with meeting this Sang Min?” Steve asked.  
  
“Sure. You’ll be back-up,” she said in certainty.  
  
“We will,” Steve assured her.  
  
After Kono had had a chance to shower and change, they went to a local restaurant to discuss the details. Kono wasn’t worried for her own safety, certain Chin at least would never let anything happen to her. With Steve and Danny there, she knew it would be fine.  
  
She expressed her sympathy to Danny for his inability to morph, suggesting as Steve did that he consult a nynisia. Steve said he would get Danny to his nynisia as soon as they had captured Hesse.  
  
Plans made, they went their separate ways, Danny dropping Steve off at the hotel where he was staying temporarily. Danny called HPD as he drove himself back to his ratty apartment, requesting that the after-crime techs clean the McGarrett house.  
 **  
**


	2. All Mammals, Sea Mammals, an Avian, and a Feline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four of them make a Team. Danny's not sure but is convinced to agree.
> 
> (A short chapter this time.)

The undercover op with Sang Min didn’t proceed quite as they had planned but Kono was not harmed for all that her cover was blown. While she was talking to Sang Min about getting his help to liberate her supposed morphing parents from the oppressive country where they lived, he demanded that she morph to prove that she could. Turning into a black house cat was no problem but Danny and Steve thought they might have to handcuff Chin to the truck as Kono morphed back. Fortunately, her dress covered her as she returned to Human, none of the thugs getting more of an eyeful than necessary.  
  
After they had broken in via tractor trailer, Sang Min eventually told them where they could find Hesse. Danny had mixed emotions about using Sang Min’s child as a bargaining chip but he couldn’t argue with the effectiveness of it.  
  
Steve and Danny took one of the police cruisers that had shown up when it was all over, racing toward the dock Sang Min directed them to. The Chinese freighter was just about to leave, its impending departure not deterring Steve from driving directly onto the ship.  
  
Danny lost track of Steve until he heard gunshots. He got close enough to the shipping containers to witness Hesse being hit by several bullets fired from Steve’s gun. Hesse disappeared over the side of the freighter as Danny arrived next to the railing where Steve lay on one of the shipper’s runabouts.  
  
“You okay?” Danny asked, leaning over the railing.   
  
Steve looked like hell. There was a spreading patch of blood over his shoulder, his face was bruised and bloodied, and he was struggling to stand up on the runabout. “Yeah, I think so. Did you see him fall?”  
  
“He fell off on the other side,” Danny said, pointing to the opposite side of the freighter.  
  
“Help me up,” Steve requested, holding up his uninjured arm. Danny helped to hoist him over the railing and onto the deck of the ship.  
  
“Wait,” Danny said, a hand in the center of Steve’s chest as Steve tried to climb to the top of the shipping container. “Where are you going? We need to get you to the paramedics.”  
  
“First I have to make sure the bastard’s dead,” Steve said.  
  
“You shot him at least three times. He’s shark bait,” Danny assured him.  
  
“Yeah well I’m going to make absolutely sure.” Steve evaded Danny’s hand and scaled the shipping container. Once he was on top of it, he unlaced his boots and pulled off his shirt. Danny could see the flinch from the pain lifting his arm over his head caused.  
  
Steve stood on the edge of the container, looking down at the dark water next to the ship. He launched himself off and by the time he hit the water, he’d turned into a dolphin. Danny circled the container to get as close to that railing as possible, looking down at the water that had swallowed Steve.  
  
He didn’t know how long he waited but it felt like hours. Finally, finally a nose broke the surface, the dolphin scanning the railing. It stared at Danny before bobbing up and down, indicating a definite ‘yes.’  
  
“Good. Now get out of there and morph back to Human,” Danny ordered. “HPD is here. We need to tell them what happened. The Governor is calling – something about an international incident…. Oh no you don’t,” Danny yelled when the dolphin sunk back under the surface. “I know you can hear me. Come out of there or so help me I’ll morph into a shark and come get you myself.”  
  
“You can’t morph, brah,” Chin reminded him when he was standing next to Danny by the railing.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny shrugged, watching the water. “He better come out of there or I will kill him.”  
  
“There he is,” Chin said, pointing further down the deck to where there was a break in the railing. The dolphin was just below it, looking up at the steps that led to the deck.  
  
“I’ll get your pants and boots,” Danny told the dolphin. The dolphin shook its head. “Right. Your boots and shirt. I’ll find you a towel.” The dolphin nodded at that, waiting patiently by the railing.  
  
“So he’s dead?” Chin asked the dolphin as Danny went over to the policemen to request a towel.  
  
The dolphin nodded.   
  
“Are you bringing up his body?” Chin asked.  
  
The dolphin pretended he hadn’t heard.  
  
“Steve,” Chin said in warning. “His body is going to wash ashore eventually. If you did additional damage, they’re going to know.”  
  
The dolphin floated below the water’s surface, leaving Chin frowning down at nothing.  
  
“I have a towel, your boots, and your shirt,” Danny called down to the water. “Well. Come on up.”  
  
“I think he may have mutilated Hesse’s body,” Chin said quietly. “I asked him to bring it up but he won’t do it.”  
  
“Not like anyone is going to blame him,” Danny said. The dolphin’s nose broke the surface at those words. “Come on, fish boy. You need to talk to the Governor before she strokes out.”  
  
The dolphin disappeared under the water momentarily before Steve’s head appeared. “She really mad?”  
  
“You illegally boarded a Chinese freighter, Steve. A. Chinese. Freighter. What do you think?” Danny said.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve had to agree, slowly climbing the ladder. He accepted the towel when his feet were clear of the water, wrapping it around his waist before climbing the rest of the way out. He stepped into his boots, deciding he didn’t need his shirt. He went with Danny and Chin to where the HPD was gathered, telling them that Victor Hesse was dead. He accepted Danny’s phone to call the Governor, reminding her that he had no choice and she was the one who had given him full immunity and means. That the Chinese government was not going to be pleased was of no importance to Steve. They had been about to help an international terrorist escape. They had no moral ground on which to stand.  
  
After a brief argument which Steve apparently won, Steve returned Danny’s phone and followed him to one of the cruisers.   
  
“You can’t drive. Your license is at the bottom of the ocean with your pants,” Danny told him when Steve stood by the drivers’ side.  
  
“Fine,” Steve sighed, entering the passenger side.   
  
“You hungry?” Danny asked conversationally.  
  
“How’d you know?” Steve asked, looking over at him.  
  
“I’m always hungry afterwards,” Danny said, driving away from the dock and toward downtown.  
  
“They serve great sushi at the hotel,” Steve said.  
  
“Okay. We’ll go there as soon we have your shoulder looked after,” Danny agreed. “They have teriyaki too, right?”  
  
“Of course. And you need to take me to the hotel so I can get some pants,” Steve said.   
  
“You won’t be the first morpher the ER has treated in just a towel. They’ll get you scrubs. Then we’ll go to the hotel and eat.”  
  
“All right,” Steve agreed, in too much pain to argue any further. Not that he planned to admit it to Danny. “By the way, thanks for having HPD scour my house.”  
  
Danny shrugged at that. “No way should you be expected to do it.”  
  
“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “So you’re going to join the task force, right?”  
  
“What?” Danny asked, looking over at Steve as though he’d lost his mind. “No, I’m not joining your task force. I want to watch my daughter grow up. You’ll get me killed before the end of the week.”  
  
“That’s so not true,” Steve countered. “You’ve only been shot once. You were barely grazed.”  
  
“And do you know how many times I’ve been shot since I moved here, Steven? Once. One time. With you. No thank you,” Danny said.  
  
“It will get you away from all those officers who only see you as a haole,” Steve bargained.  
  
“You’ll still be working with the force. If I were crazy enough to agree, I’d still be around them all the time.”  
  
“But I’d intervene on your behalf.”  
  
“I don’t need anyone fighting my fights for me, thank you very much,” Danny said.   
  
“Join anyway,” Steve said. Although it sounded much more like a command than a suggestion.  
  
“No,” Danny said.  
  
“Fine. I’ll talk to your captain. Then you won’t have any choice,” Steve decided, leaning his head against the head rest and closing his eyes. The sun was making his pounding headache much worse than it already was, which was plenty bad.  
  
“You would, wouldn’t you? Highjack me and force me to work for you,” Danny said in a hard tone.  
  
“Work with me, not for me,” Steve corrected.  
  
“You’re in charge. How is that not me working for you?”  
  
“Semantics. The headquarters will be ready by the end of the week. There are four offices – including yours,” Steve said.  
  
Danny sighed, recognizing defeat when he was staring it in the face. “Fine. Fine. I’ll be one of your crazies. Until you get me killed. Then you’ll have to tell Grace what happened to me.”  
  
“When do I get to meet Grace?” Steve asked as though it was a foregone conclusion.  
  
Danny sighed again, shaking his head. “I pick her up from school Wednesday and keep her until school Thursday. We can have dinner.”  
  
“You can bring her to my house. She’ll love the beach,” Steve said.  
  
“Are you sure? You won’t be fully moved in,” Danny pointed out.  
  
“We’ll order pizza,” Steve assured him.  
  
“Fine. But no pineapple,” Danny said.  
  
“Pineapple on pizza is the best,” Steve said.  
  
“No. No. No,” Danny retorted, enumerating all the ways in which fruit on pizza was an abomination. Steve just sat back and smiled, knowing the task force was now complete.


	3. Grace Who Steals Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets Grace and begins to understand all the reasons Danny cherishes her the way he does.

“Wait, Danno,” Grace said in disapproval as Danny reached for the doorknob to Steve’s house.  
  
“What wait?” Danny asked, looking down at her. She had insisted on carrying the two pizza boxes even though they looked to him to be bigger than she was.  
  
“We can’t go in before we knock,” Grace said, certain in her determined eight-year-old way.  
  
“I do it all the time,” Danny said, wondering why he was explaining this. On the other hand, he and Rachel had raised her with manners and respect for doing things correctly. But still.  
  
“It’s not nice, Danno,” Grace said.   
  
“Yes, all right,” Danny conceded, ringing the doorbell he wasn’t sure actually worked.  
  
“Since when do you ring the bell?” Steve asked as he opened the door, smiling at Danny.  
  
“Since Grace reminded me it was the polite thing to do,” Danny replied. “Grace, this is Steve. Steve, this is my perfect daughter Grace.”  
  
“It’s nice to meet you finally, Grace. Especially when you can remind Danny of the manners he’s obviously forgotten,” Steve inviting them in with a sweep of his hand.  
  
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Grace said, surrendering the pizzas to Steve’s larger and more capable hands. “Danno talks about you all the time.”  
  
“Oh he does?” Steve asked, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening in his undeniable amusement.   
  
“Occasionally I might tell her how totally goofy you have acted yet again,” Danny admitted.  
  
“Uh huh,” Steve said. “He talks about you a lot, Grace. Another reason I’m so glad to meet you.”  
  
“Daddy says you live on the ocean,” Grace said, looking around the living room to see if she could spot the water from where they were standing.  
  
“I sure do. In fact, I thought we’d eat on the lanai. I have plates and silverware ready and waiting,” Steve said, leading them through the house to the table with a red checked tablecloth and place settings ready for them. There were glasses of cold water at each place, Danny silently thankful that Steve hadn’t planned to serve him beer. Not that he wouldn’t appreciate one, but he wasn’t going to drink beer before driving Grace back to his place.   
  
“It’s so pretty here,” Grace said, running out into the yard to gaze over the ocean.   
  
“I think so,” Steve said.  
  
“And Daddy said we can go swimming,” Grace said in excitement.  
  
“You and I can. Danno don’t swim,” Steve said to her giggles.  
  
“He does sometimes. When he morphs,” Grace said. “Will you turn into a dolphin so I can swim with you?”  
  
“Sure,” Steve agreed.   
  
“I hope I can morph when I’m old enough,” Grace said as she returned to them.  
  
“I hope you can too. But you know that because Mommy doesn’t, it might mean you can’t,” Danny reminded her gently.  
  
“I know. But since you’re all mammals, maybe I can be some mammals,” Grace said. She sounded like she was mentally crossing her fingers, that if she wished hard enough the dream would come true.  
  
“Some mammals is cool,” Steve confirmed.   
  
“Maybe I’ll be sea mammals like you,” Grace said, looking up at Steve.  
  
“That would also be very cool,” Steve agreed. “Then we could swim all the time.”  
  
“Yeah,” Grace said, hopping in her excitement.   
  
“Not _all the time,_ ” Danny cautioned. “You have school and Steve has work. Plus I’m sure Steve has things to do besides swim with you.”  
  
“I swim every day so it wouldn’t be a hardship,” Steve told them both.  
  
“It’d be so much fun,” Grace bubbled.  
  
“It would,” Steve agreed.  
  
“We can swim together even before I morph, can’t we?” Grace asked with an excited giggle.  
  
“Any time you aren’t busy and I’m not at work,” Steve confirmed.  
  
“Did you morph when you were in the Navy?” Grace asked.   
  
“Sometimes. When I needed to in order to get the job done,” Steve said.  
  
“That must have been scary.”  
  
“Sometimes,” Steve repeated, looking up at Danny to make sure the topic wasn’t inappropriate for little ears. Danny was watching them indulgently, no intentions of stepping in unless one of them required it.  
  
“Did Danno tell you that Step-Stan is a bunny?” Grace asked Steve. “I wouldn’t want to be just one animal. But he said he doesn’t care. Because he can morph and that’s most important.”  
  
“A bunny, huh?” Steve asked, trying hard not to laugh at the image of the tall powerful real estate developer as a small, large eared rabbit.  
  
“A bunny,” Danny confirmed, having a harder time not laughing at the idea.  
  
“Can you morph so we can swim now?” Grace asked Steve, her brown eyes wide, her entire body quivering in excitement at the idea of swimming with Steve in dolphin form.  
  
“After we eat, Monkey. Come and sit. Then you can swim with Steve,” Danny said, patiently reeling in some of her enthusiasm.  
  
“Okay, Danno,” she agreed, sitting at the table and telling them about her day at school between bites of pizza. Like her father, she’d never met a stranger and knew with the confidence of youth that the two men cared deeply about the goings-on of her classmates.  
  
Steve glanced over at Danny as he ate his pizza, marveling at the love reflected on Danny’s face as he talked with Grace. Steve wasn’t surprised to find it nor was he surprised at the warmth he felt spreading through him at the sight. That Danny adored Grace had been clear from the start. Seeing it for himself make it real in a way hearing about it had not accomplished.  
  
“And then you know what he said?” Grace was asking, apparently indignant over the contents of her story.  
  
“What did he say, Gracie?” Danny asked, giving her another napkin.  
  
“That you aren’t a real policeman. My teacher said you were so and that if he didn’t stop saying those bad things about you, he’d get detention,” she said, her need for justice satisfied by the teacher’s reaction.  
  
“Why would he think Danno’s not a real policeman?” Steve asked, his back getting up at the idea that his team was not getting the respect they deserve, even if the disrespect was coming from an eight year old.  
  
“He said his mother wears a uniform and real policemen wear uniforms,” Grace said. “I said you were a special kind of police that didn’t have to wear stupid uniforms.”  
  
“Uniforms aren’t stupid, Monkey. I used to wear one. And Steve wore one when he was in the Navy. But you are right about us being special kind of police.”  
  
“I’m sorry I said they were stupid. But he shouldn’t have said bad things about you and Steve.”  
  
“No he should not. Nor does it give you permission to be disrespectful of his mother.”  
  
“I know,” she admitted quietly. “I told him I was sorry already.”  
  
“That’s my girl. Thank you,” Danny said, giving her a kiss on the head. “Are you done with your pizza?”  
  
“Uh huh,” Grace agreed.  
  
“All right. Run inside and change into your swimsuit. I’ll clean this up while you two go swimming.”  
  
“Thanks Danno,” she said, racing inside to change.  
  
“Please go to the ocean and morph. My daughter does not need to see you in your altogether,” Danny said, waving at Steve and the ocean and possibly all of Hawaii.  
  
“My altogether?” Steve repeated with a little confused and a lot amused expression.  
  
“Just go. Throw your shorts and shirt up and I’ll try to stop them from being washed out to sea.”  
  
“Wouldn’t be the first pair I lost,” Steve said.  
  
“I’m sure. And you know if anything happens to my daughter while you two are swimming, I will kill you with your own gun.”  
  
“I do know,” Steve assured him, going down to the water’s edge. He shed his shirt  before diving in and remaining Human long enough remove his shorts. He tossed them up the beach, watching Danny retrieve them. “Thank you Danno.”   
  
“Stop with the Danno,” Danny said, shaking his head, certain Steve was ignoring him.   
  
He found it impossible to ignore Steve. He tried telling himself that the sight of all that bare tanned inked skin did nothing for him or his libido. But all his self talk was lies. Steve was one of the most attractive men he’d ever met and to pretend otherwise would be more of an untruth than he could allow himself. He watched as Steve’s head sunk below the surface to be replaced by a sleek dolphin head. He was distracted from watching the dolphin when Grace came racing down the yard in her pink swimsuit, her cheeks painted the same color from excitement.  
  
“Where is he, Danno?” she asked, standing on her toes like that would help her spot the dolphin.  
  
“Right there,” Danny said, walking to the edge of the ocean and pointing at the dolphin waiting patiently in the shallows. “Hold on tight.”  
  
“I will,” Grace agreed, going waist deep into the water so she could grasp the dolphin’s fin. The dolphin swam out carefully, making sure she kept a tight hold.   
  
Grace’s squeals were filled with glee and excitement, her joy palpable. Danny had to smile to hear her, watching as Steve the dolphin drug her on top of the blue ocean. They would periodically disappear, Grace popping back up, flying through the air when Steve hoisted her high. She dove cleanly into the water, begging the dolphin to throw her again.  
  
They had been playing for 45 minutes when Grace waded ashore, still laughing. But Danny could see that the swimming had taken its toll. Once she was above the edge of the water, he scooped her up to wrap her in the fluffy towel he’d brought with him.  
  
“Did you have fun, Gracie?” Danny asked, knowing the answer.  
  
“It was the _best_ ,” she said with a radiant smile that was interrupted by a huge yawn. “Next time you have to come. Steve can swim with both of us. He’s so strong.”  
  
“I’ll certainly consider it,” Danny said, carrying her into the house and setting her down, making sure she could stand on her own two wobbly legs. “Let’s pull on your shorts and shirt over your suit.”  
  
“Kay,” she agreed, her eyes trying to drift closed. Danny did most of the work getting her clothes on, her arms and legs too tired to lift by themselves.  
  
“There we go,” Danny said, fetching her flip flops. “You can shower when we get to our apartment.”  
  
“You’re welcome to shower here,” Steve said from the doorway.   
  
Danny whirled around to face him, relieved beyond measure that Steve was fully dressed in his shorts and tee shirt. Of course he wouldn’t return to the house naked with Grace there.  
  
“In fact, you’re welcome to stay the night if you want,” Steve said, using the towel he was holding to scrub at his short hair with his left hand. In his right was half a piece of pizza which very soon disappeared.  
  
“That’s very generous of you but we should get home,” Danny said, holding Grace’s flip flops out to her. When she didn’t accept them, he turned to urge her to put them on, only to find her fast asleep curled up in the corner of Steve’s couch, her head cushioned on her arms.  
  
“You were saying,” Steve said, looking down at her. There was a mixture of awe and affection and a tiny bit of nervousness on his face, a combination Danny hadn’t experienced before. He decided he rather liked that his little girl could have such an effect on the leader of Five-0.  
  
“I’ll carry her to the car then wake her up when we get home,” Danny said, his voice soft and warm.  
  
“Or you could just spend the night,” Steve said, his tone nearly a match for Danny’s.  
  
“You aren’t prepared to have an eight year old in your house first thing in the morning. The chaos overwhelms me some mornings. Going home this time is in all our best interests.”  
  
“All right,” Steve agreed reluctantly. He waited as Danny gently scooped Grace up, opening the front door so Danny could carry her out.  
  
“Thanks for indulging her,” Danny said over Grace’s head.  
  
“It was my pleasure,” Steve responded. “I’m looking forward to the next time she comes swimming with me.”  
  
“I’m sure she is too,” Danny said with a tender smile. “Good night, Steve.”  
  
“Good night, Danno,” Steve said, watching from the front door as Danny carried Grace to the car, getting her settled in the backseat. Once he could no longer see the Camaro’s tail lights, Steve closed and locked the front door. He wasn’t sure if the house had always been as quiet as it was with the closing the door or if it felt more empty than he could remember.


	4. The Nynisia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve takes Danny to see Mamo, a nynisia, to try and figure out why Danny can’t morph.

Danny was in his office instant messaging with Grace. It was finally Friday of their 80 hour week. Things had been more chaotic than usual with explosions, car chases, gun fights, foot chases, even bicycle chases. Chin had caught one perp by becoming an ostrich and first tripping him then sitting on him. Kono had twice turned into a sleek black jaguar, terrifying three more suspects into surrendering. And Steve morphed into a sea creature almost daily.   
  
Danny was trying very hard not to feel badly about his current lack of ability to morph. If he had been able to, he could have run down several perps much more easily, one of whom nearly killed Kono. Fortunately, Danny was able to get the knife away from him before he could inflict any major damage. The cut Kono sustained was deep but not as serious as it would have been if Danny hadn’t intervened. After she’d morphed twice, the cut had completely healed.  
  
Not being able to morph to help the team was bad enough. But being still blocked from morphing was even worse on his soul. He felt confined in his Human skin, trapped and frozen. Becoming an animal was freeing and invigorating – smells were sweeter, food had more flavor, the sun friendly and warming. Remaining stuck as a Human felt like he was a cardboard cutout trying to navigate the 3D world.   
  
Grace was telling him via instant message how exited she was that she was going to swim with Steve the dolphin this evening, Danny agreeing that it was great fun for her to swim with him. He tried not to feel even worse that he couldn’t become a dolphin to take her swimming. At least Steve never begrudged her requests and was both patient and careful when he took her swimming.    
  
He looked up when the subject of their conversation appeared in Human form at his door.  
  
“Hey. What’s up?” Danny asked as Steve came in to sit on his couch. Well, he folded his long legs and gathered his long arms to rest on the couch. Why did he have to be such a freaking giant and why were all of his movement so fluid? And mesmerizing?  
  
Danny realized he was staring when Steve cleared his throat, startling Danny back to the present. A quick glance up at Steve’s face confirmed he was silently laughing at Danny, something he did frequently.  
  
“I called my friend the nynisia. He’ll be glad to talk to you.”  
  
“Oh,” Danny said, stalling for time to think. “Uhmmm…when?” He was torn between being excited and nervous -  excited that he might finally find the solution to his inability to morph, and nervous that he would never be able to again.  
  
“Now if you want,” Steve said.  
  
“Oh,” Danny said, glancing around his office as though he was looking for an out. “Oh, uhm, okay. Now’s good. I guess.”  
  
“What?” Steve asked, studying Danny. “What’s going on?”  
  
“What if he can’t help? What if I never morph again?” Danny said giving voice to fears he really didn’t want to admit to having.  
  
“Of course you will,” Steve said. “He’ll help you figure out why you aren’t. You’re still a regenerator. That’s a really good sign.”  
  
“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “Then we’ll pick up Grace from Rachel’s? She was just telling me how excited she is that you’re going swimming with her. She’ll never to speak to either of us again if we stand her up.”  
  
“Of course I’ll take her swimming. Plus it’s _Little Mermaid_ night. How could we possibly miss that?” Steve asked, making Danny laugh. “Come on. Let’s go to talk to Mamo.”  
  
“Yeah. Okay,” Danny agreed, explaining to Grace that he had to sign off but he and Steve would be by to pick up her in a couple of hours.  
  
 _Okay. Bye Danno. Tell Steve hi for me._  
  
“Grace says hi,” Danny said, shutting down his computer and getting his car keys out of his pocket, keys that were immediately snatched away by Steve.  
  
“Thanks for passing on the word, Danno,” Steve said with a laugh.  
  
“What have I told you about calling me that?” Danny ranted as he followed Steve out. They slowed as they went through the main office. Kono was currently a black cat, curled up on the tech table where it was the warmest. Chin was in eagle form, squawking up at her, no doubt telling her to get off his table. Kono stretched her elegant neck enough to look down at him before licking her paws. Chin squawked up at Steve and Danny who could only shrug.  
  
“It’s between the two of you. Go home,” Steve said before fleeing the office and going down to the Camaro.   
  
“Don’t think this is over. You are not Grace. Ergo you do not get to call me Danno. That is Grace’s name for me and Grace’s name alone.”  
  
“Ergo?” Steve asked as he pulled the car into the street.  
  
“That’s your take-away? I don’t want you using my daughter’s name for me and you focus on my use of _ergo_?”  
  
“Who says ergo?”  
  
“I do. It’s a perfectly good word,” Danny said, launching into a full scale rant on Steve’s vocabulary which seemed limited to _fire_ , and _grenades_ , and occasionally _duck_.  
  
Steve could tell by the way the words were tumbling out that Danny truly was nervous about meeting with Mamo. But he was confident that if anyone could help, it would be the man Steve considered an uncle.  
  
“Why are we stopping here?” Danny asked when they were parked by one of the most popular surfing beaches. “Please tell me he’s not a surfer. I don’t think I could stand that much humiliation.”  
  
“He’s not a surfer, Danno. He rents out surfboards to tourists. He treats everyone like family.”  
  
“Even haoles?” Danny asked as he followed Steve across the beach to where a colorful hut stood. The sole occupant was a native Hawaiian somewhere between the age of 40 and 140. His outfit was as bright as his hut, giving him an air of good health and warm welcome. He smiled to see Steve approaching, leaving his hut to embrace him.  
  
“Stevie,” Mamo said. “’Bout time you came to see me. You’ve been back two months already.”  
  
“I know, Mamo. I’m sorry,” Steve said in apology. “This is Danny.”  
  
“It’s nice to meet you, Danny,” Mamo said with a genuine smile. “Stevie tells me you are unable to morph.”  
  
“Since I moved here,” Danny confirmed.   
  
“Mmm…” Mamo said, considering it. “Stevie, watch my boards. Danny and I will be back before too long.”  
  
“Roger that,” Steve agreed, going into the hut to sit on the tall stool behind the counter.  
  
“Steve tells me you are all mammals,” Mamo said as he and Danny walked toward a portion of the beach shaded by an overhanging cliff.  
  
“In Jersey. Since I got here, nothing. I’ve tried. I’ve not tried. I don’t know,” Danny said, sounding worn out and frazzled.  
  
“When was the last time you morphed?” Mamo asked, sitting on one of the rocks.  
  
“It was three weeks before I moved here. I turned into a horse and took Grace for a ride. She left for Hawaii the next day. I haven’t been able to morph since.”  
  
“Grace is your daughter,” Mamo said.  
  
“She is. She’s eight so we don’t know yet if she’s a morpher. Her mom, my ex-wife, is a non.”  
  
“And even though you are reunited with Grace, you continue to be blocked.”  
  
“Grace has asked me why I won’t morph. I’ve tried explaining but she doesn’t really understand.”  
  
“Because you don’t understand,” Mamo pointed out.  
  
“I don’t,” Danny agreed.   
  
“And this never happened to you before?”  
  
“No. It’s a whole new, unhappy experience for me,” Danny said, looking out over the ocean with an expression of loss.  
  
“It would be,” Mamo confirmed. “May I touch you?”  
  
“Of course,” Danny agreed. He watched as Mamo stood up, moving to stand directly in front of Danny. He lay one warm hand on Danny’s head, closing his eyes. His breathing slowed before becoming synchronized with Danny’s. The touch of his hand seeped into Danny’s bones, bringing a warmth that had nothing to do with the temperature on the beach. Danny felt engulfed in caring, sheltered and protected.   
  
He leaned toward Mamo when he removed his hand, wanting to return to the comfort and security he’d found in Mamo’s touch.  
  
“It is as I feared,” Mamo said. “Your splanchnic has become sealed tight, twisted so no egress is possible.”  
  
“Oh,” Danny said. “That sounds…bad.”  
  
“Only in the here and now. You can free your splanchnic. You must find that which will break the seal.”  
  
“I don’t know why it’s closed off. How can I know what will break it back open?” Danny asked.  
  
“It is closed off because you are closed to Hawaii. You have not accepted that this is your home.”  
  
Danny broke his gaze away from the far-too-knowing eyes of the older man. He wanted to deny it, but Mamo knew the truth. And Danny was not going to lie to him, which meant he could no longer lie to himself. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“To whom are you apologizing?” Mamo laughed. “You have not offended me.”  
  
“I… I’m from Jersey. It’s all I’ve ever known. Hawaii could be a different planet,” Danny said, hoping it didn’t sound like he was whining. That was not his intent. He wanted to explain, perhaps find reassurance that his plight was understandable.  
  
“This is not a different world. Hawaii _is_ very different from Jersey. Anywhere else is very different from Jersey,” Mamo pointed out.  
  
“You’ve been to Jersey?” Danny asked, looking up at him.  
  
“I lived there for several years. It was a difficult transition, not unlike that which you are undergoing.”  
  
“Could you morph there?”  
  
“After a while,” Mamo said.   
  
Danny nodded, looking back over the ocean and away from the piercing eyes that surely saw right through to his soul. “Chin is the only avian I know,” Danny said. “I’m actually jealous of him. Most people are jealous of me.”  
  
“Avians are even more rare than total mammals,” Mamo agreed. “Yet your gift is an extraordinary one.”  
  
“I wish I could use it,” Danny said. “It’s an itch I can’t reach. I can’t scratch it. And it’s exhausting.”  
  
“It is,” Mamo said. “But it is not a permanent condition. You will find the way to break the seal.”  
  
Danny nodded, hoping Mamo was right. Because he didn’t know how much longer he could go without turning into an animal. “We better get back before Steve charges people at gun point for your boards,” Danny said, making Mamo laugh.  
  
“I believe he will have managed to behave while we’ve been gone,” Mamo said.  
  
When they got back to the hut, Steve was talking to three beautiful, bikini clad surfers who were laughing way too loudly at whatever he was saying. Their smiles and obvious flirtations twisted something deep inside Danny, a reaction he wanted to pretend wasn’t real. Why should he care about anyone who might flirt with Steve? He sternly reminded himself that he had no claim.  
  
“Looks like my shift is over,” Steve told the giggling trio.  
  
“When will you be back?” the one in the middle asked, leaning a little closer to Steve.  
  
“Never,” Danny answered for him. “He doesn’t really work here.”  
  
“Oh,” the first surfer pouted. “I was going to rent all my boards from you.”  
  
“His boards aren’t for rent,” Danny said, reaching for Steve’s arm and pulling him out of the hut. “Thank you, Mamo. I’ll keep you posted.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Danno. Bye Stevie. Don’t be a stranger,” Mamo called as Danny drug Steve to the Camaro.  
  
Danny did not appreciate that Steve was openly laughing at him as they got into the car. Danny tried to ignore Steve’s gleam of triumph but as he was watching Danny and not starting the car, Danny had to glance over at him. “No. Do not start with me,” Danny warned.  
  
“Why do you care that they were flirting with me?” Steve asked with a satisfied smirk.  
  
“I don’t care. I…it’s time to pick up Grace. I didn’t think your fangirls would fit in the car or care about _Little Mermaid_.”  
  
“Uh huh,” Steve said, starting the car, finally. “What did Mamo say?”  
  
“That you have the maturity of a tadpole,” Danny said. He only frowned harder when Steve laughed.   
  
“What did he say about you morphing?” Steve asked.  
  
Danny told Steve what they had discussed, Steve thoughtfully quiet when Danny had finished. Danny let him consider the conversation, knowing he would share his thoughts when he had them constructed.  
  
“What do _you_ think?” Steve finally asked him.  
  
“I guess he’s right,” Danny said. “When you grow up and live in the same place your entire life, it will always be home. I know Hawaii is where I live now but I’m not from here. Living somewhere doesn’t make it your home.”  
  
“It can if you choose for it to be,” Steve said.  
  
“Do you feel at home wherever you are? Was traveling with the SEALs hard for you?”  
  
“It was the life I chose. You didn’t choose Hawaii. Rachel forced it on you. That’s the difference,” Steve said.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny had to agree. “I want to be at home here. But that’s a lot of adapting.”  
  
“It is,” Steve agreed. “And you can’t force it. You also can’t fight it. You might settle for accepting it in the interim.”  
  
“I’m trying,” Danny said, looking out the window at the infernal sunshine. Why did always have to be so bright? “I know you find that hard to believe.”  
  
“I do believe it. Except for the tie,” Steve said.  
  
“Stop with the tie. I’m not taking it off. I will not stop wearing them. I like to look like a professional. Just because you think…..”  
  
Steve smiled to himself as Danny settled into a familiar rant, the words sounding suspiciously like _home_ to Steve.


	5. Love or Something Like It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve disappears. The Team goes into high gear to find him.

Three weeks after they had gone to see Mamo, Danny woke with a start. He didn’t know what had disturbed his sleep. It was still dark outside and it was three hours until his alarm was due to go off. When he failed to find the filament of thought that had woken him, he turned his focus outward, to listen for any strange sounds within his apartment. Everything seemed in order, the greater world outside calm and quiet as well.   
  
He went to the bathroom to empty his bladder and to splash cool water on his face. What could have caused him to wake so suddenly and so completely? His heart was racing and his face was fever hot.  
  
He’d been fine when he’d gone to bed and didn’t feel like he was coming down with something. It was deeper yet more ethereal.   
  
Sleep refused to return.   
  
He lay restlessly in bed, his thoughts straying to Steve as they always did when he wasn’t otherwise occupied - too much Steve too often for Danny’s comfort.   
  
He and Steve had had dinner together, an occurrence that had become more and more frequent. Danny hadn’t broached the subject of what he could believed was happening between them. It was unclear if his feelings were reciprocated, no matter how desperately he wanted Steve to regard him the way he saw Steve – as his best friend and potentially so much more.   
  
Yesterday they had heard the “how long have you two been married” remark four times. That was a new personal best for one day. Neither of them balked at it. Neither of them denied it. Hearing it felt as natural as breathing, as natural as being in each other’s space, not needing to finish each other’s sentences because they already knew how they would end.  
  
Was that love or something like it? Danny couldn’t compare how he felt when he thought of Steve with what it had been like to be in love with Rachel. The experiences had nothing in common except Danny’s wholehearted desire to be with Steve all the time. Leaving him at night had become more and more difficult. Danny wasn’t able to fall back asleep because he was excited about the prospects of seeing Steve this morning. They’d been apart for approximately three hours and it was all Danny could do not to go over to Steve’s before the sun was up.  
  
Danny knew going over to Steve’s this early would prove that he was reverting back to being a teenager, unable to be away from his crush for any longer than absolutely necessary.   
  
Danny also avoided going over to Steve’s too early any morning because if he got there at the wrong time, he’d be there to watch Steve swim ashore as a dolphin and morph back. While seeing Steve naked was absolutely in the plus column, watching him morph when Danny was still unable to felt like a hard painful punch.  
  
Danny would wait until his regular time to go and pick Steve up. He could wait. He’d be spending the entire day in his company. The start of that day could be delayed for a couple more hours. And maybe he’d be able to tease out the thoughts that had caused him to wake so early and so abruptly.  
  
Giving up on returning to sleep, Danny turned on the TV and watched something mindless and stupid. When he decided it was finally late enough to go to Steve’s, he showered and dressed. He then made himself drive slowly over to Steve’s, arriving only a few minutes earlier than his usual time. He pulled into the driveway, getting out to invade Steve’s house for another cup of coffee. As he approached the front door, he sensed something was wrong, a feeling confirmed by the fact that the door stood part-way open, they wood around the lock splintered. Danny drew his gun and shouldered the door the rest of the way open.  
  
“Steve? You here, babe?” Danny called. The house was eerily silent, no smell of coffee lingering in the air. “Steve?” Danny yelled up the steps as he climbed them. Everything appeared to be in order but there was no Steve. “Chin, it’s me. You and Kono need to get to Steve’s house ASAP. I can’t find him.”  
  
“Can’t find him,” Chin repeated. “Signs of forced entry?”  
  
“Yeah. I don’t see any blood. The house isn’t turned upside down,” Danny said, going out into the backyard. He went all the way down to the shoreline, scanning the ocean. “He’s not swimming. No towel. No boardies waiting.”  
  
“We’re on our way,” Chin said, hanging up.  
  
Danny went back into the house, sweeping every room again. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. The bed wasn’t made but it looked slept in, not torn apart. It made no sense. It was almost as though Steve had simply vanished.  
  
Danny took his cell phone back out of his pocket, dialing Steve’s number. To his immense disappointment, Steve’s phone began to ring in the sunroom. Danny followed the sound, ending the call on both phones. After pulling on his evidence gloves, he looked through Steve’s recent call history, nothing out of the ordinary in the list of incoming or outgoing calls.  
  
Danny tried to find any other evidence as he called the CSI team. There didn’t appear to be any traces of the kidnappers remaining in the house. While he was examining the sunroom, Chin flew in through the front door, gracefully landing on the desk to look up at Danny.  
  
“I haven’t found anything yet,” Danny said.  
  
The eagle jumped from the desk down to the floor, examining it, his head cocked to the side. He continued into the living room, standing at the bottom of the stairs. He called out to Danny who came to stand directly next to him. Beside the bottom step, obscured by shadows, was a syringe with the plunger depressed all the way.  
  
Danny carefully picked it up, sniffing at the needle. He could tell it had been used on Steve, his smell lingering. Danny recognized the scent of the contents but couldn’t quite place it. He knew he should know and that he’d experienced it before. It made the knot of worry in his stomach tighten even more.  
  
“Can you tell what it is?” Chin asked. He’d gone into the closet where he stored some of his clothes, morphing back to Human and dressing quickly.  
  
“No. I should know,” Danny said, holding it up to Chin to sniff.  
  
“It’s yrani,” Chin said in a low voice. “So he couldn’t morph and get away from them,” Danny acknowledged, his anxiety ratcheting up another notch. “Who would have taken him?”  
  
“There’s a phone book sized list of people that would want to exact revenge on him,” Chin reminded him.   
  
“Yeah,” Danny had to agree. “Can you tell if they are morphers?”  
  
“I think at least one of them was. I’m getting three scents that aren’t ours or Steve’s.”  
  
“What’d you find?” Kono asked as she rushed into the house. Her color was high and her hair was wet as was the bikini she was wearing under her tee shirt and jeans.  
  
“Yrani,” Chin said, showing her the syringe.  
  
“Oh dear,” Kono said. “They had to give it to me when they operated on my knee. I broke out in hives. Apparently everyone reacts differently to it.”  
  
“The one time I experienced it, I was so dizzy I couldn’t sit up,” Chin said, looking queasy from the memory.  
  
“I’ve never had it, thankfully. How long will the effect last?” Danny asked.  
  
“That amount – anywhere from 24 to 72 hours,” Chin guessed.  
  
“They’ll just give him more if we don’t find him,” Kono said.  
  
“We’re going to find him,” Danny told them, going to the front door to talk to the CSI team.   
  
Charlie Fong had come, trusting the others on his team but needing to do whatever he could to help. Max had also come along with them.  
  
“We don’t have a body,” Danny told Max in some confusion.  
  
“You will once you find who did this,” Max said. “Or Commander McGarrett will provide us their bodies when we find him.”  
  
“All right,” Danny said, accepting Max’s presence as well as his concern for Steve.   
  
“Detective,” one of the CSI tech said from the front porch.   
  
“You find something?” Danny asked, leaving Max to discuss the yrani with Chin. He heard Max saying that as it was highly regulated, they might be able to determine who had taken the Commander by accessing a list of those on the island who had access to it.  
  
“Tire tracks,” the tech said, pointing to the tracks next to Steve’s driveway. They were barely visible but the tires had left definite impressions in Steve’s yard. “Also, there is a graze on the Commander’s truck. Can you tell us if it was there previously?”  
  
“No, it wasn’t,” Danny said, looking at the pale streaks on Steve’s truck. “These are definitely new.”  
  
“Good. We’ll have them analyzed as quickly as possible, as well as checking for a match on the treads.”  
  
“Thank you,” Danny said, leaving the tech to do the work on those items.  
  
“Max is getting a list of everyone who can access yrani,” Kono told Danny when he’d returned to the house. “Charlie is checking Steve’s bedroom. They had to have drugged him while he slept or there would be signs of a struggle.”  
  
“I was here until 11:30. They probably waited until I left,” Danny said.  
  
“You aren’t to blame, brah,” Kono assured him. “You told him to install an alarm but he wouldn’t listen.”  
  
“Invincible Super SEAL,” Danny said.  
  
“Not as invincible as he wants to believe,” Chin said. “Kono thinks that two of the kidnappers are morphers.”  
  
“Yeah?” Danny asked her.  
  
“There were three men here. One is a canine,” Kono said.  
  
“And the other?” Danny asked.  
  
“Morpher but I don’t know what range.”  
  
“All right. Canine helps. We need to call the FBI for all the morphers with criminal records,” Danny said.  
  
“I’m on it,” Chin said, pulling out his phone.  
  
“We need to go to the office,” Kono told Danny. “We can do more there than we can here.”  
  
“Yeah,” Danny agreed reluctantly. “As soon as Chin is off the phone, we’ll go. I’m going to run up and talk to Charlie.”  
  
“Right,” Kono said, watching him go up.  
  
“Charlie,” Danny said as he entered Steve’s bedroom. Charlie and the tech with him turned to acknowledge Danny’s presence. “You find anything?”  
  
“A couple of spots of blood on the sheets,” Charlie said, showing the pinpoints to Danny.   
  
“So they gave him two doses of yrani?” Danny asked.  
  
“It looks that way. Or they gave him one dose and a sedative,” Charlie said. “They’d be better off sedating him.”  
  
“Yeah,” Danny agreed, turning toward the steps when Kono called up to him. “We’re going back to the office. Call as soon as you find anything.”  
  
“You got it,” Charlie assured him with a nod.  
  
Danny went down the steps, finding Kono and Chin waiting. “You reach the morpher division?”  
  
“I did,” Chin agreed. “They are sending a list of all the potential suspects to us. I asked that they concentrate on canines for a start then spread the search from there.”  
  
“Good,” Danny said. “Do we need to contact the Navy, do you think?”  
  
“We need to tell them, don’t we?” Chin asked as he followed Kono to her car. “I would think they’d need to know that one of their SEALs has disappeared.”  
  
“You’re right,” Danny said. “I’ll call them while I’m coming back.”  
  
“Wait until we reach the office,” Kono requested. “You are already distracted enough.”  
  
“She’s right, brah,” Chin agreed.  
  
“Right. When I reach the office,” Danny agreed, getting into the Camaro and following Kono back to the palace.  
  
By the time they’d reached the palace, the FBI had sent the records of all the morphers who were likely suspects. The canines were marked as well as the associates of all the canines. Chin and Kono said they would go through the list as Danny called the Navy.  
  
It was an uncomfortable conversation with Pearl but they appreciated Danny alerting them. They reluctantly agreed to look into Steve’s classified files to see if there were any morpher suspects they could reveal to Five-0. Danny knew they’d never see that list but thanked Command as sincerely as he could manage.  
  
“Anything?” he asked as he entered Chin’s office.  
  
“Not yet,” Chin said, focusing on his computer. “What did the Navy say?”  
  
“They said they’d send us a list of potential morpher suspects from his classified files. But I seriously doubt we’ll ever get it.”  
  
“Probably not,” Kono agreed.   
  
They all watched as Max entered the main office carrying a manila folder. “I have the list of those who have access to yrani.” Max gave the folder to Danny who opened it to find a flash drive.  
  
“Why did you bring the flash drive in a folder?”  
  
Max looked confused by the question, frowning at Danny. “I do not know.”  
  
“It’s all right, Max,” Kono said gently, a hand on his shoulder. “We’re all upset about Steve being gone.”  
  
Max nodded once. “The file also contains suspected black market dealers of yrani. I don’t know how accurate or helpful that information will be.”  
  
“Any chance Sang Min is on that list?” Chin asked.  
  
“I don’t recall his name being included,” Max said.  
  
“Maybe we should go see Sang Min,” Danny suggested.  
  
“Will he talk to you?” Kono asked.  
  
“One way to find out,” Chin said, taking out his keys. “You aren’t driving. You’ll kill us both.”  
  
“Fine,” Danny said, not bothering to argue. In truth, he felt like he was gong to come out of his skin and not in a good way. The urge to morph was as strong as it had been since he’d arrived in Hawaii but the final impetus to change was still missing. “Call us if you find anything we need to know.”  
  
“Right,” Kono agreed.  
  
“Is there anything I can do to assist?” Max asked Kono as Danny and Chin left.  
  
“Do you mind looking through lists of names?”  
  
“Not at all,” Max said, accepting Chin’s laptop and settling on the couch.


	6. Pretty Lion's Pretty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They track down Steve’s location.

Sang Min was not particularly helpful but did give them three names they should “consult,” the most likely ones on the islands who could procure illegal yrani.  
  
“You want my advice, I’d be lookin’ at the associates of the late Victor Hesse,” Sang Min told them.  
  
“You have names of these associates?” Danny asked.  
  
“Not off the top of my head,” Sang Min.  
  
“But you’ve heard they may be after Steve,” Chin said, leaning over Danny to see Sang Min on the opposite of the glass.  
  
“You hear things is all I’m sayin’,” Sang Min said with a shrug. “You offer me an incentive, maybe I find out the names.”  
  
“What sort of incentives?” Danny asked.  
  
“Transfer to the mainland,” Sang Min said. “Snitches don’t last too long in here.”  
  
“We’ll see what we can do,” Danny said, hanging up the phone and indicating to the guard they were ready to leave.  
  
“You think he’ll come through?” Chin asked as they returned to his car.  
  
“Maybe. I’ll call the Governor. See if she can pull some strings to get him transferred,” Danny said. He pulled his phone out, calling Kono to see if there were any updates.  
  
“Not yet. Max and I are still sorting through the FBI database. We have a list of possibles,” Kono said.  
  
“Sang Min suggested we cross reference all known associates of Victor Hesse,” Danny said. “He also gave us three names of people known to distribute black market yrani. We’re going to talk to them now.”  
  
“Got it,” Kono said, hanging up.  
  
“Wait,” Danny said, looking out the windshield. “We need to follow up on Sang Min’s leads.”  
  
“We need to eat. I know you didn’t have breakfast. We aren’t skipping lunch too. And we can talk to Kamekona while we eat his shrimp.”  
  
“Fine,” Danny sighed, looking out the passenger window.  
  
“Why are you blaming yourself?” Chin asked in that calm, scary all-knowing way of his.  
  
Danny could only shrug. He couldn’t understand it himself much less explain it to Chin. “I woke up this morning at 2:30. I’d be willing to bet that’s when Steve was taken. I should have called him, made sure he was okay.”  
  
“This isn’t your fault. There was no reason for you to think Steve wasn’t asleep in his bed.”  
  
“Yeah,” Danny said, still disappointed in himself. “We’re having the alarm installed whether he likes it or not.”  
  
“Agreed,” Chin said. “Although once you’re living there full time, it won’t be as important.”  
  
“Living there full time?” Danny repeated, looking over at Chin. “What does that even mean?”  
  
“Brah,” Chin said. “I have eyes. All of Oahu has eyes. We know how you feel about Steve.”  
  
Danny shook his head but he wasn’t going to lie to Chin. He’d spent enough time lying to himself. “Fat lot of good it does. Setting me up for more heartbreak.”  
  
“No way,” Chin said. “You don’t see how Steve looks at you.”  
  
“Like I’m taking away his favorite toys when I won’t let him use grenades to open all the doors?”  
  
“No. Like he can’t believe he’s gotten so lucky.”  
  
“Why hasn’t he said anything?” Danny asked.  
  
“Why haven’t you?” Chin countered.  
  
“Good point,” Danny agreed, opening his door when Chin had parked at Kamekona’s truck. “Once we find him, I will.”  
  
“And I’ll win the pool,” Chin said with a pleased smile.  
  
“You’ll have to split it with me,” Danny insisted.  
  
“You haven’t found him yet?” Kamekona asked by way of greeting.  
  
“Not yet,” Chin confirmed. “Do you know anything that will help?”  
  
“I don’t,” Kamekona said, shaking his head. “I can make some calls.”  
  
“They gave him yrani so he can’t morph,” Danny said. “We’re about to go talk to these three guys. Sang Min says they distribute it illegally. Do you know anyone else who would have easy access to it?”  
  
“These three are the big players,” Kamekona said. “You might want to add Meu Nikwai to that list.”  
  
“I thought she was dead,” Chin said, putting the name in his phone with the others.  
  
“Nah, brah. She wanted everyone to think that,” Kamekona said. “Sit, sit. I’ll bring your food out right away.”  
  
Danny and Chin did as he suggested, sitting at their usual table. They were surprised to look over into the parking lot to see Catherine Rollins leaving her car. They had met her several times before, wondering to themselves if she was as _ex_ a girlfriend as Steve claimed. But it hadn’t been Danny’s business at the time so he hadn’t asked. Steve had volunteered that she was a canine who did _not_ appreciate being asked if she turned into a wolf every full moon. Anyone stupid enough to say that to her would find piles of dog poop where they least expected it. For months.  
  
“I heard from Pearl command,” she said, sitting next to Danny, across from Chin. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I’m fine,” Danny said. “Are you here in an official capacity?”  
  
“Unofficially,” Catherine said. “I was told to do anything I could to help in his recovery.”  
  
“Good,” Chin agreed with a nod. “We’re going to check on some dealers of yrani. Kono and Max are checking all FBI morpher suspects for connections with Steve. And Sang Min said we should check associates of Victor Hesse.”  
  
“Right,” Catherine said, standing. “I’ll go help Kono. We’re going to find him, Danny, I promise.”  
  
“Thanks,” Danny said, squinting after her as she returned to her car. “Think she knows too?”  
  
“Yes she does,” Chin said, accepting their meals from Kamekona. He reached into his pocket, surprised when Kamekona stopped him.  
  
“Not this time, brah. Look at it as extra incentive to find Steve,” Kamekona said before returning to his truck.  
  
“That’s a first,” Danny said, eating his shrimp but not really tasting it. He managed to finish most of it, washing it down with the cold water Kamekona had given them. “You ready?” he asked Chin when his food was gone.  
  
“Yeah,” Chin agreed, telling Kamekona they were leaving and they would keep him posted. He promised to let them know if he found out anything about Steve’s whereabouts.  
  
Chin and Danny managed to find two of the yrani dealers on Sang Min’s list. Neither of them had any of the drug in their possession and swore that they no longer dealt in it. Even if they did, they would never provide it to anyone who planned to use it on a member of Five-0. The genuine fear in their eyes was enough to convince Chin and Danny they were telling the truth.  
  
The first one suggested they talk to Meu Nikwai. Chin and Danny did not admit she was already on their list. They did extract a promise from both dealers that they would call Five-0 if they heard any word on the street about Steve.  
  
Danny called Kono who found Meu Nikwai’s current whereabouts with some digging. Chin drove directly to her store which fronted her real business. The store purported to sell authentic island clothing, which was true in the loosest sense of the word as Indonesia was technically an island.  
  
“Can I help you gentleman?” a young native woman asked as they entered.   
  
“We’d like to speak to Meu Nikwai,” Chin told her.  
  
“Do you have an appointment?”  
  
“We don’t need an appointment,” Chin informed her, taking his badge off his belt to show it to her.  
  
“No, I don’t suppose you do,” she replied. “Unfortunately Ms Nikwai isn’t here at the moment.”  
  
“Do you know where we might find her?” Danny asked, trying to keep a lid on his impatience.  
  
“I don’t,” she lied. “If you’d like to leave me your number, I’ll have her call you.”  
  
“Maybe we’ll just take a look around,” Danny said, approaching the door that led to the back of the building.  
  
“You don’t have a warrant,” the woman protested.  
  
“We’re just checking for shirts in our size,” Danny claimed, forcing open the door. “Don’t need a warrant to shop.”  
  
Chin followed him through two more doors and into the rear of the building, finding an extremely sophisticated laboratory set up. It was occupied by a man and a woman, the woman monitoring what looked like a miniature still, the man studying his computer.  
  
“Hands up,” Chin ordered, drawing his gun. “Where is Meu Nikwai?”  
  
The woman was looking at Chin with terror in her eyes. The young man looked resigned and frankly exasperated.   
  
“Who?” the man asked, nodding his head toward a small hallway to their right. “We don’t know any Meu Nikwai.”  
  
“Is that true?” Danny asked the woman, taking an intimidating step closer.  
  
“Never heard of her,” the woman whispered, barely breathing.  
  
“Seems strange since this is her store,” Danny said, watching Chin carefully go down the hallway to the barely visible door. “I’m willing to bet you don’t know anything about illegal yrani and you certainly wouldn’t be distilling it.”  
  
“This is…uhm…liquid heroin,” the woman claimed, grimacing at her own lie.  
  
“Of course it is,” Danny said, moving closer to the counter and sniffing the beaker. “Sure. Heroin.”  
  
Chin had reached the door and was signaling for Danny to cover him.   
  
“If either of you move, I’ll shoot you,” Danny warned, crossing over to where Chin waited. They burst through the door into an office that contained a huge wooden desk and a tiny Hawaiian woman.  
  
“Who are you?” the tiny woman demanded, standing up abruptly.  
  
“Five-0,” Chin told her. “We’re here about illegal yrani.”  
  
“I don’t know anything about that,” she said. “We are a clothing importer.”  
  
“So the lab is for…what? Making the clothes colorfast?” Danny asked.  
  
“The lab,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “The lab.”  
  
“Yes, the lab. And keep your hands where I can see them,” Danny ordered.  
  
“Did you sell yrani in the past week?” Chin demanded.  
  
“We don’t sell yrani. We’re a clothing store.”  
  
“There is yrani in your lab right out there,” Danny said, pointing toward it with his gun. “I can smell it. He can smell it. Cut the crap and tell us who you sold it to.”  
  
She seemed to consider his words, looking up at him. “I don’t know his name. He paid cash.”  
  
“How much did he buy?” Chin asked.  
  
“Five doses,” she said. “Told me he had a big fish to bring down.”  
  
“That would be Steve,” Danny said to Chin quietly. “Five doses.”  
  
“What did this man look like?” Chin asked.  
  
“Haole. Dark hair. Had a strange accent. Not like this one,” she said, pointing to Danny. “Sounded like James Bond.”  
  
“He was English,” Chin prompted.  
  
“I guess,” she said. “Most haoles sound the same to me.”  
  
“English,” Danny said, taking out his phone. He called Kono to inform her what they had discovered, Kono assuring him they would add that to the list of potential suspects to check out.  
  
“We’re not going to arrest you on one condition,” Chin was saying.   
  
“One condition?” she repeated, looking up at him.  
  
“You call us if this Englishman contacts you again. And you stop selling illegal yrani.”  
  
“Yes, all right,” she agreed far too easily. But if it got them more information, Danny wasn’t going to protest letting her off. “I may still have his phone number,” she said, a peace offering now that she knew she wasn’t going to jail.  
  
“That would be extremely helpful,” Danny agreed, waiting as she picked up her phone and scrolled through.  
  
“Yes, here it is,” she said, showing it to Danny. He texted it to Kono, telling her to see if she could find any information on it.  
  
“It you think of anything else you think will help us, call,” Chin said, giving her his card.  
  
“I will,” she said, walking them toward the shop. “Thank you.”  
  
Chin nodded, rushing out to keep up with Danny. “Okay, we should have arrested her.”  
  
“I got no problem with letting her go. She’s going to give us the rest of the information now,” Danny said.  
  
“Okay. Where to?” Chin asked, glancing over at Danny.  
  
“Let’s go see Charlie. I doubt he’s found anything but at least we can check with him.  
  
“Got it,” Chin agreed, driving back toward headquarters.  
  
“I was just about to call you,” Charlie said as they entered his lab.  
  
“You have something?” Danny asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.  
  
“The paint chips from Steve’s truck,” Charlie said. “It’s from a 2012 Range Rover. Land Rover only used this particular pearlescent silver for that model year. Kono can tell you how many Rovers there are on the island that match these specs.”  
  
“Excellent,” Danny said. “Thank you.”  
  
“Find Steve,” Charlie said as he watched them leave his lab.  
  
Danny texted the information to Kono, receiving an acknowledgement. By the time they got back to headquarters, Kono had the list of everyone on the island that owned a 2012 silver Land Rover. There were only 13 people on the list which she cross-checked with the other lists. That narrowed the possibles to three, one of whom had left the island a week earlier, one who was missing and presumed dead, and one who matched all the criteria as the possible kidnapper.  
  
“Meet Julian Hesse. Cousin of Victor and Anton. With known ties to the Yakuza,” Kono said, frowning at the picture on the screen.  
  
“Great. The Yakuza,” Chin said, his frown matching Danny’s.  
  
“Do we have an address for this latest Hesse?” Danny asked.  
  
Kono did her magic on the tech table, frowning at the results. “No known address.”  
  
“How can he own a car if he doesn’t have an address?” Danny asked.  
  
“He has an address in London, for Marko Imports. The car is registered to a subsidiary here on the islands. It’s supposedly on the big island but when I look up that address, I get a vacation lot,” Kono said.   
  
“Great. No local contact information for them, I’ll bet,” Danny said.  
  
“No but I got a hit on the number you sent me,” Kono said, pulling up the info. “It’s registered to a London address.”  
  
“Can you ping it?” Max asked, looking down at the table.  
  
“I tried. Nothing.”  
  
“All right,” Danny said in exasperation. “At least we can put an APB out on the car. Can you give HPD the description and the license plate number?”  
  
“Got it,” Kono agreed, pulling out her phone.  
  
“Where’s Catherine?” Danny asked as Kono went into her office.  
  
“She is in Steve’s office, updating the Navy,” Max said.  
  
“Updating them on what?”  
  
“I am uncertain,” Max said with a shrug.  
  
“All right,” Danny said, going to stand by Steve’s door. It felt all kinds of wrong that Catherine was sitting behind Steve’s desk although it was a logical place for her to make her phone calls. When she had concluded her conversation, he entered the office at her wave. “What’d they say?”  
  
“They’re concerned, as you would expect,” she said. “They said if we need their help, they will provide it. Satellite, reinforcements, whatever we need.”  
  
“Good,” Danny said. He updated her on what they had found as they returned to the bullpen.   
  
Chin was typing into the table, glancing up at the screens as the results were received.  
  
“What’ve you got?” Danny asked him, looking up at the monitors to try and figure out what he was seeing.  
  
“Steve’s phone records for the last four days,” Chin said. “I was hoping it’d lead us somewhere but it’s a dead-end.”  
  
“He called Grace?” Danny said, studying the numbers on display.  
  
“Several times,” Kono said, pointing at all the times Grace’s number appeared.  
  
“Not as many as he called you,” Catherine said with a gentle smile.  
  
Danny could only shrug. It wasn’t the time or the place to get into what he and Steve might or might not share.  
  
Chin pressed the correct key on the table when it rang to indicate an incoming call. That brought Duke up on the screen. “Duke,” Chin said in greeting.   
  
“We found the SUV,” Duke said, relief in his face.  
  
“That was fast,” Danny said.  
  
“Mostly luck,” Duke said. “It’s by an abandoned warehouse on Sand Island. Patrols were going by to check on a warehouse that had been reported as being used as a hangout for drug dealers.”  
  
“Did you send us the address?” Chin asked as Danny got his gear and an extra rifle. Kono and Catherine were also pulling on TAC vests, getting their weapons ready.  
  
“I did,” Duke said. “The patrols fell back. They are two blocks away. No way were they going to risk spooking whoever has Steve.”  
  
“Excellent. We’re on our way,” Chin said, disconnecting and racing out to catch up with the rest of the team.  
  
“You come with me,” Kono was saying to Danny. “Catherine can go with Chin.”  
  
“I can drive myself,” Danny said, trying to get the Camaro door open.  
  
“Of course you can. But you shouldn’t,” Kono said, taking his hand and dragging him to her car. “Let’s go.”  
  
“Right,” Chin said, climbing into his car with Catherine before they peeled out of the parking lot.  
  
“When are you going to tell him?” Kono asked as she followed closely behind Chin’s car.  
  
“Tell who what?” Danny asked, looking down at his phone for the exact location that Duke had sent them.  
  
“Steve,” she said, the _duh_ clear in her voice. “About how you feel.”  
  
“Scared? Pissed off? That he’ll get me killed one day?” Danny said, glancing over at her.  
  
“No, smart ass. That you’re in love with him,” Kono said with a smile that spoke volumes about her thoughts on the subject.  
  
“Not you too,” Danny said, despairing for his sanity. Was it the sunshine that made them all so loopy? And nosy? Definitely nosy.  
  
“You know it’s true, brah. What we can’t figure out is what you’re waiting for,” Kono said, an implied question there but not overtly stated.  
  
“Maybe everyone’s wrong. Maybe’s he’s my best friend and that’s all,” Danny tried.  
  
“Uh huh,” Kono said.   
  
“All right. Maybe what I feel for him is…deeper than friendship. But why am I having this conversation with you even?”  
  
“Because you apparently don’t have the cojones to tell him how you feel.”  
  
“Maybe he only likes girls. Like Catherine. Who, okay, I admit probably has bigger cojones  than me. But still. The point stands. I’ve never seen Steve express an interest in anyone of our common gender.”  
  
“Neither have you,” Kono pointed out. “Except him.”  
  
“Yeah. Well,” Danny said with a shrug that did nothing to stop her interrogation of him.  
  
“Did you know that when Steve morphs, he becomes the female of the species?” Kono asked casually, as though they were discussing the possibility of rain in the near future.  
  
“No way,” Danny said, shaking his head. “That’s like one-tenth of one percent of all morphers.”  
  
“And you are part of the one percent who are all mammals,” she reminded him.  
  
“Yeah,” Danny said. “But that has nothing to do with me and him. Not that there is a ‘me and him’ per se.”  
  
“There will be once you admit it,” Kono assured him.  
  
“Why do I have to be the one to put myself on the line? Why don’t you and Chin corner him and make him tell me if it’s true?” Danny protested. He did not appreciate Kono’s laugh.  
  
“Dude. He’s so emotionally constipated he wouldn’t kiss Catherine in public no matter how long they dated.”  
  
“Catherine,” Danny said, frowning.  
  
“It’s cool. I talked to her,” Kono informed him. “They were done. They’ve been done. She considers him one of her closest friends but that’s all.”  
  
“Oh. Well. That’s good. I guess. Thank you for arranging my personal life so thoroughly.”  
  
“ _Ohana brah._ It’s what we do,” Kono said, slowing as they approached the building, parking right behind Chin’s car.  
  
Catherine was close by the barred door of the warehouse, carefully stretching up to see into the grimy window. She got the info she needed, keeping low as she rejoined them by the cars. “Just one guy guarding Steve,” she told them. “Steve’s tied to a chair and he’s conscious. As far as I can tell, he isn’t injured. I couldn’t get a good look at him but I didn’t see or smell any blood.”  
  
“Good,” Danny said in some relief. He shaded his eyes with his hand as he looked up at the second floor of the warehouse. There was a rickety fire escape that led to a small door. Beside that was a window broken in half. “Chin. Can you fly through that window?” Danny asked, pointing up at it.  
  
“You got it,” Chin agreed, going behind his car. It wasn’t long before a small sparrow darted from the pavement directly up to the window.   
  
“I’m going to climb up that ladder,” Danny told Kono and Catherine. “When I have eyes on Steve, you two are going to storm the warehouse. Got it?”  
  
“Roger that,” Kono said, making sure their ear pieces were secure. The sparrow flew back out the window and landed on Kono’s shoulder. He chirped once, nodding. “Only one guard,” Kono interpreted. The sparrow nodded. “Is Steve hurt?” Chin the sparrow shook his head once. “All right. Let’s go.”   
  
The sparrow flew back into the warehouse, Danny following on the ground. He flung his heavy rifle over his back as he carefully climbed the ladder. It creaked once, making him stop and hold his breath. There was no sound to indicate additional movement from inside the warehouse so Danny continued his climb. The sparrow was waiting for him when he reached the top of the steps, flying to sit on his shoulder. Danny carefully and silently climbed through small window, thinking uselessly that it was almost too small for Steve to climb through, not that he wouldn’t have found a way. Once clear of the window, Danny moved close to the wall on the open second floor that looked down into the immense space of the warehouse.  
  
From their vantage point, Danny had a clear view of Steve. If the guard glanced up, he’d see Danny watching them but his entire focus was on his prisoner. Steve was only wearing the shorts Danny knew he slept in, an ugly bruise covering the right side of his face. There were patches of mostly dried blood on Steve’s arms, blood Danny suspected was not Steve’s. Most surprisingly, Steve was talking, non-stop.  
  
“…no idea you what they’ll do. They’ll me find and when they do, they’ll make you born you were ever sorry. It doesn’t times how many matter you ask me where this Wo Fat is. I can’t tell you because I. Not. Do. Know. I see you aren’t the brightest lamp in the bulb but even you must understand I can’t give you possessions I don’t Intel.”  
  
Danny flinched when the guy hit Steve in the solar plexus with the butt on his automatic.  
  
“Shut. Up,” the large man snarled at him.  
  
Steve struggled to get air back in his lungs, his words coming out rough and low. “Hitting. Not helping. Talk up. Shut. Don’t shut up. Tell us. You need to story get straight. You’re me confused more. If I had any idea Wo Fat where was, I’d tell. I. Got. Idea. None. No.”  
  
“I said shut up,” the man yelled, raising his gun. This time it was the barrel pointed at Steve, not the butt.   
  
Before he could think, before he could decide what to do to protect Steve or if he could shoot the guard without hurting Steve, Danny was jumping from the second floor to the first with an ear splitting growl. Only when he landed on four feet did he realize that he’d morphed, out of anger, out of fear, out of a need to keep Steve safe. His transformation startled the guard, freezing him long enough that Danny could use one of his gigantic lion paws to knock him easily to the ground. Danny sat on him, studying Steve with his incredibly blue lion eyes as Steve looked back at him, stunned and amused.  
  
“You did it,” Steve said, trying to smile despite his split lip. “You morphed. You make a lion pretty. Golden. Like my Danno. Pretty lion. Hi, Kono. Hi, Catherine. Doesn’t lion make a pretty Danno?”  
  
Kono and Catherine had burst through the large doors, rushing over to where Steve sat almost smiling at the lion. They lowered their guns when once they’d taken in the scene, smiling at the lion perched atop the suspect.   
  
“Are you okay, boss?” Kono asked Steve, turning to study him with a critical eye. Catherine was also studying him, concern written in the lines of her frown.  
  
“Now better,” Steve said, his gaze wondering back to Danny. “Lion Danno.”  
  
“Danno is a very pretty lion,” Kono agreed, scratching Danny’s ear and making him purr. “The pretty lion should probably get off the perp before he kills our suspect.”  
  
Danny bared his teeth at that, flicking his tail angrily at the perp who was trying to wiggle free.  
  
“Get it off me,” the perp demanded, loudly. One swipe of a paw crashed his head into the concrete, rendering him unconscious.  
  
“Where’s Chin?” Steve asked, looking around Kono and Catherine. “Did you behind him leave? Is he palace at still? Is he okay? Not hurt is he? Chin? Hurt?” Steve asked up at Catherine as Kono cut through his ropes. He rubbed his wrists to return the circulation to his hands. Catherine placed a warm hand on his shoulder, snatching it back when Danny-lion growled very softly.  
  
“Chin’s fine,” Catherine said, taking another step back from Steve. “He’s right here.” She held out a hand, Chin landing on her palm.  
  
“Chin bird,” Steve said. “Did you see lion pretty? Golden Danno like lion. No eating bird lion.”  
  
“Your words are a jumble, boss,” Kono told him gently.  
  
“Yrani,” Steve said with a nod. “Word up mixes. Many too words. Too too many. Like Danno. Danno has all the words. All of them. Always. Ambulance?”  
  
“It’s on its way,” Kono said, taking a step closer. The lion looked on, watchful but not about to interfere. “I’ve never heard you _ask_ for one. Are you sure you’re okay?”  
  
“Yrani. Flushed out. Needs to be,” Steve said, shivering once. The lion got between Kono and Steve, curling around him. “Warm.”  
  
“Here’s the ambulance,” Catherine said, going toward the door. She waited as they unloaded their equipment onto the stretcher before directing them in. Steve continued to talk the entire time.  
  
“Danny, the EMTs need to see to Steve,” Kono said when Danny growled at them. They waited patiently, not about to tangle with a protective lion. “He needs to go to the hospital. They can’t take him until you let them see to him.”  
  
The lion looked up at Kono with his piercing blue eyes before turning back to look at Steve who was still talking. Steve managed to nod in agreement to what Kono had said. The lion rubbed his mane on the underside of Steve’s chin before slowly uncurling and standing beside Kono. She dropped one hand onto his head, burying her fingers in his thick mane to scratch between his ears.  
  
The EMTs checked Steve over, the smaller one glancing back at Danny-lion periodically. But the lion simply watched. While they were tending to Steve, Chin came in, Human again and fully dressed. He handcuffed the still unconscious suspect, directing HPD officers who had arrived with the ambulance. They would take the perp to holding. The officers watched the lion as he watched them but he did not do anything threatening toward them.  
  
“All right. We’re going to take him to the morpher wing,” the larger EMT explained after they had helped Steve onto the stretcher. They were all surprised that Steve voluntarily got onto it. “We’ve called his doctor and she’s on stand-by.”  
  
“Good,” Kono said, leaning down to kiss Steve’s forehead. “We’ll be right behind you.”  
  
Steve nodded, his talking slowing but not stopping. The words were even more of a jumble, barely making any sense.  
  
The EMTs wheeled him out to the waiting ambulance, carefully lifting him in. The lion jumped inside, the smaller EMT staring at it wide-eyed.  
  
“He’s a morpher, Jose. He’s not going to hurt you,” the larger EMT assured him.  
  
“It’s a lion, Ken,” Jose whispered, looking inside the ambulance where the lion was taking up almost all the available space.  
  
“And they told you that 20 minutes ago he was a man,” Ken explained.   
  
“A lion,” Jose repeated like he was the only one who understood what had happened.  
  
“All right,” Ken said. “Commander, are you okay if Jose rides up front with me?”  
  
“I’m with that okay,” Steve said. “Hurt nobody lion will. Danno.”  
  
“See,” Ken said, closing the door and herding Jose to the front. “The lion is Danny, his partner.”


	7. Survival Instincts of a Gummy Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending the night in the hospital, Steve is released into Danny's "custody." Danny goes home with him to make sure he stays put.

  
Steve’s doctor was waiting at the emergency entrance of the morpher wing when the ambulance arrived. Danny-lion left first, standing to the side so they could take Steve out.  
  
“Malia,” Steve said in delight when he saw her. “My doctor favorite. Chin don’t tell.”  
  
“I promise,” she said with a laugh. “Is this Danny?”  
  
“Golden Danno,” Steve agreed. “Lion.”  
  
“So he can morph again,” she said. She was walking next to the stretcher as Steve was wheeled into a room, Danny following very closely behind.  
  
“Hoping,” Steve said, yawning. “My mixed-up are words. Fix me, please, so can I go home.”  
  
“I have the antidote,” she assured him, putting it into the IV the EMTs had started. “But you’re staying over night for observation.”  
  
“Need don’t to,” he naturally protested. “Fine I’m mostly. Once words unscrambled are.”  
  
“There is no point in discussing this,” she told him firmly. “You are staying over night. You’ll be released in the morning if it’s out of your system.” She held up a hand when he tried to protest again. “You know it’s not safe for you to be out of medical care when you’ve had yrani.”  
  
“Gone almost,” he said, trying to sit up. “Home go.”  
  
“You are not going home. And Mamo is on his way. Chin called and said Mamo needed to come check on you,” Malia said.  
  
“Home go. Mamo home come,” Steve said, still trying to sit up enough to put his legs over the side of the bed.  
  
His attempt to escape was short-circuited by a low growl and a huge paw that landed in the center on his chest. Danny held him down on the bed, looking over at him with fierce blue eyes that threatened severe consequences if Steve didn’t stop fighting his doctor.  
  
“Okay. Okay,” Steve finally conceded, relaxing back in the bed. “I stay will.”  
  
The lion purred at that, laying down next to Steve’s bed.  
  
“I guess this one is staying,” Malia said with a  smile, crouching down next to Danny to pet his nose. “Thank you for your help. Are you hungry?”  
  
Danny shook his huge head before laying it on his paw, keeping one eye directed at Steve and one at the door.  
  
Malia checked Steve’s IV and read his vitals, making tidy notes. “Mamo should be here shortly. Do you need anything?” she asked. Assured they were okay, she left them, pulling the door closed behind her.  
  
“Hey Danno,” Steve said, rolling on his side, careful of the IV.  
  
Danny lifted his head, looking up at Steve.  
  
“Thanks,” Steve said, reaching down to gently tug on Danny’s ear.  
  
Danny nudged his hand, Steve responding with more petting, some words still coming unbidden from Steve’s tongue. He had nearly fallen asleep there was a knock on the door.  
  
“In come,” Steve called when he’d woke enough.  
  
Mamo came in the room, filling it up with his presence. “Stevie. How are you feeling?” Mamo asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.  
  
“Better-ish. Tiredly,” Steve said, his words slurred.  
  
“I can understand that,” Mamo agreed, leaning over to look on the floor on the opposite side of the bed. “Is this Danny?”  
  
Danny raised his head to look up at Mamo, accepting Mamo’s scratching of his ear.  
  
“Pretty lion,” Steve confirmed.  
  
“He is,” Mamo agreed. “I see you found the impetus to break free.”  
  
Danny nodded his huge head before returning it to his paw, a watchful eye on the door.  
  
“Is your splanchnic feeling safe?” Mamo asked Steve, placing a warm hand on Steve’s head.  
  
Steve startled himself out of his half-slumber, nodding. “Morphing soon and much.”  
  
“Good. Not tonight. And I would advise you against trying tomorrow. You need some time to make sure all the yrani is out of your system.”  
  
“Out,” Steve agreed, his eyes drifting closed against his wishes.  
  
“I’m going to go,” Mamo said with an indulgent laugh. “If you need me to come tomorrow, all you must do is to call.”  
  
“Call,” Steve repeated although Mamo wasn’t sure Steve had heard what he said.  
  
Checking to make sure the Danny-lion was okay, Mamo left them to sleep and recover.  
  
~0~  
 ****  
Chin came to the hospital with Malia the next morning, ready to take Steve home if Malia released him.  
  
“How are you feeling?” Malia asked, checking Steve’s pupils and listening to his chest.  
  
“Fine,” Steve said, carefully scratching his arm where the needle was still imbedded. Danny-lion lifted his head over the side of the bed, gently nudging Steve’s hand away from his arm.  
  
“He didn’t change back,” Chin said, scratching Danny’s head through his thick mane.  
  
“No,” Steve confirmed.  
  
“Are you feeling better?” Malia asked, a stern expression on her face. “You aren’t talking which is a good sign. But I also don’t know if your words are still scrambled.”  
  
“They aren’t scrambled any longer,” Steve assured her. “The yrani is gone. I slept last night. I’m ready to go back to work.”  
  
“No,” Malia said, shaking her head. “I will release you provided you go home. Straight home. You need to rest today. Rest, Steven. Not run, not swim, not work.”  
  
“I’m fine, Malia,” Steve protested. “I can go back to work.”  
  
“No, you are not fine,” Malia corrected. “Your heart rate is still too slow. Your oxygen levels are way down. And your pupils remain dilated. As soon as you step outside, I guarantee you will have a headache that would bring a lesser man to his knees. All because there are remnants of yrani in your system. You need to take it easy until it is _all_ gone. You can do that at home or you can stay here until tomorrow.”  
  
Steve frowned, ready to protest again. The lion rubbing his head on Steve’s chest stopped his complaint. “Okay,” he finally conceded.  
  
“Good,” Malia said, carefully removing the IV from Steve’s arm. “I’ll get the paperwork while Chin gets a wheelchair.”  
  
Chin left with her, not that Steve noticed. He was too busy petting Danny, enjoying the feel of the soft, golden mane under his hand. The lion was purring, not shy with his enjoyment of the affection.  
  
Chin very soon returned, giving Steve a pair of dark sunglasses and a tee shirt before helping Steve into the wheelchair, pushing him out with the lion right next to him. The hospital personnel barely spared a glance to the two men and one lion. The hallway was filled with doctors and nurses as well as a dog that was howling, a giraffe that was just short enough to fit under the higher than normal ceiling, and a swan sitting on a stretcher watching everything going on.  
  
Chin got Steve settled in the passenger seat before opening the tailgate so the lion could jump in. Danny lay in the back while keeping an eye on Steve.  
  
“I’m fine, Danno. You don’t need to guard me on the way home,” Steve told him, reaching back to scratch his nose.  
  
“You know he can’t help it,” Chin said. “I’m a little surprised you haven’t morphed back.”  
  
The lion grunted at that, laying his head back on his paw.  
  
“He will when he’s ready,” Steve said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.  
  
“Malia was right about the headache, huh?” Chin asked, glancing over at Steve. There were lines of pain etched deep around his mouth, his eyes squeezed closed behind his sunglasses.  
  
“Of course,” Steve reluctantly admitted.  
  
“She gave me some pain meds to help with it. They’ll make you sleep which is what you really need,” Chin said.  
  
“What I need is to swim. To sweat the rest of the yrani out,” Steve said.  
  
“Not until tomorrow,” Chin said.  
  
“I can swim today. For a little while,” Steve countered. “I’m able to swim with the small amount of….”  
  
Anything else he would have said was interrupted by the lion’s growl and his head appearing between the two seats. Barring his teeth was enough to convince Steve swimming could wait.  
  
“All right, Danno. I won’t swim until tomorrow,” Steve agreed, petting his head to mollify him.  
  
“It’s a very good thing Danny can morph again,” Chin said with a laugh.  
  
“Good for him. Not so good for me,” Steve decided. “Did you let Rachel know what happened?”  
  
“Kono kept her informed. I think she’s planning to bring Grace by after school if you’re up to it,” Chin said.  
  
“Of course,” Steve said. “She’ll be thrilled that Danno can morph again.”  
  
“True that,” Chin agreed, pulling into Steve’s driveway. He left the car to open the hatch, the lion gracefully jumping out to stand by the passenger side door.  
  
Steve slowly pushed his door open, squinting up to his house. He didn’t remember the driveway being quite so far away from the front door. Well, it wasn’t all that far and Chin had brought him slippahs to the hospital. He could make it from the car to the house.  
  
That thought proved to be incorrect when he tried out his legs. They had turned to rubber, unable to support his weight. It felt like a betrayal but he knew yrani did weird things to him so he tried not to berate himself for his failing.  
  
He looked down at Danny as he bumped up against his thighs. “What? I’ll be okay in a minute,” Steve said.  
  
“You can’t stand by yourself, Steve. Take Danny’s help.”  
  
Steve looked between Chin and the lion, finally nodding. He put his hand on the flat of the lion’s back, letting him support the majority of his weight. But it was awkward to walk sideways next to the lion. They got a few steps when Steve had to stop.  
  
“This isn’t working,” Steve admitted, looking over at Chin in preparation of asking for his support. Instead, the lion moved in front of Steve, stopping and backing up with determination. When he didn’t stop, Steve had no choice but to spread his feet to allow the lion to stand between his legs. Danny turned his head, glaring up at Steve until he got with the program and sat on the lion.  
  
“That’ll work,” Chin laughed, following Steve and the lion up the walk. Steve’s feet were barely scraping the ground, the lion walking easily with the extra weight. Chin got the door open, allowing Danny to take Steve in first. Danny went directly for the steps to the upstairs, Steve holding to his mane and protesting the entire time. Danny ignored him, easily taking him upstairs and into his bedroom.  
  
“I’ll get you some water,” Chin said from the doorway. The lion was as close to the bed as possible so that Steve could tumble onto it, burying his face in his pillow.  
  
“This is humiliating,” Steve said.  
  
“Would you carry Danny if he couldn’t walk?” Chin asked with a total lack of sympathy.  
  
“I suppose,” Steve admitted to his pillow. “Thank whoever changed my bed, yeah?”  
  
“Of course,” Chin said. “I’ll be right back.”  
  
“’Kay,” Steve agreed, not lifting his head. The lion patted him carefully on the back, chuffing in amusement. “Thank you. But I’m never doing that again.”  
  
The lion chuffed again, nudging Steve’s legs and feet up onto the bed.  
  
“Stop being so pushy,” Steve protested half-heartedly. “I’m fine.”  
  
The lion stared at him with familiar blue eyes until Steve shrugged. “Okay. Maybe not 100%. But way better.” That got a reluctant nod from the lion which earned him a scratch on his nose. At least Steve’s hand wasn’t shaking when he reached out to the lion. That was a vast improvement.  
  
“Water and extra strength Tylenol,” Chin announced when he returned. Steve accepted one of the bottles, drinking half in one go. “Brah. You could have told me you were this thirsty.”  
  
“I always am after yrani,” Steve said. He eyed the two pills, briefly considering not taking them. One glance at the determined expression on the lion’s face changed his mind. He washed them down with the rest of the water.  
  
“Good thing I brought extra bottles,” Chin said, lining up the three bottles on the nightstand. “I’m going to go into HQ unless you need me to stay.”  
  
“Go, please,” Steve requested. “Then I’ll feel a little less guilty about not being there.”  
  
“You don’t have any choice,” Chin reminded him. “I’m a phone call away. And remember – no swimming.”  
  
“Not like Danny would let me anyway,” Steve said, squinting up at Chin. “Thanks for everything.”  
  
“Ohana brah. It’s what we do.”  
  
“Right,” Steve agreed, watching Chin leave after a final goodbye. “Will you morph back now, please?”  
  
Danny tilted his gigantic head, considering Steve’s request. It didn’t take long for the lion to become a blurry version of itself, melting to reform into Danny – a naked, frowning Danny with his fists on his hips.  
  
“Hey,” Steve said with a smile up to him.  
  
“You are a bonehead. You know this, right? A. Bone. Head. ‘I’m going to work. I can swim.’ You had the equivalent of poison pumped into your system but you couldn’t even contemplate taking off a single day to recover.” Danny narrowed his eyes as he continued to rant at Steve. “You aren’t listening to a single word I’m saying, are you? You are the most stubborn creature I have ever had the misfortune of meeting in my entire life.”  
  
“Get in bed with me,” Steve said when Danny paused for a breath.  
  
“What? No. I’m naked in case you hadn’t noticed. I’m not getting into bed with you. Not now. Possibly not ever. Why would I want to tangle my personal life which is already plenty complicated, thank you very much, with yours, a man with the survival instinct of a gummy bear. No, no,  no,” Danny said with much accompanying hand waving.  
  
All his words were for naught when Steve reached up and pulled him physically onto the bed. Danny kept telling him all the ways it was wrong and stupid and going to be the death of him right up until Steve shut him up with a kiss. A long, hard, perfect kiss.  
  
“Huh,” Danny said when he could breathe.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve said with the biggest smile Danny had ever seen.  
  
“So we’re doing this,” Danny said, pointing to Steve and himself and back to Steve. “This.”  
  
“Yep. I’ve wanted to do this since you broke into my garage. But you wouldn’t admit it so I wasn’t going to say anything,” Steve said, his hand in the center of Danny’s chest. His Human ‘fur’ was almost as soft as his lion’s fur but not quite a thick.  
  
“I won’t admit I broke into your garage,” Danny said, looking up at Steve where he loomed over him.  
  
“No – that you want me as badly as I want you,” Steve said, leaning down to kiss Danny in proof.  
  
“Maybe,” Danny said, lifting his head to chase Steve’s kiss.  
  
“Maybe,” Steve laughed, reaching down for Danny’s firming erection. “This says more than _maybe_ to me.”  
  
Danny had to gasp when Steve touched him. His hand was hot and firm and knowing, touching Danny in all the ways a man was intended to be touched. “Oh God.”  
  
“Is that a good thing or a bad?” Steve asked, still stroking Danny, making him harder and harder.  
  
“A good thing. But I’m pretty sure Malia would not approve,” Danny said, his hips lifting by themselves to follow Steve’s hand.  
  
“I’ll be fine. I may not be able to get hard until tomorrow anyway. So I can take you apart and Malia will never have to know.”  
  
“Will you put me back together again?” Danny asked breathlessly as Steve proved he knew just how to shatter Danny completely.  
  
“Always.”


	8. "Have You Met Us?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Steve make decisions about their future, decisions which really are inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been neglecting this story. Muses are capricious creatures and must be obeyed!

Danny woke a couple of hours later, starving. He was always hungry after morphing so the hollow feeling wasn’t unexpected. He was laying on his stomach, Steve’s arm over his back and leg over his thighs, as though Steve couldn’t stand the idea that Danny might leave him. If he didn’t need something to eat, he would be content to stay until Grace arrived. But he _really_ needed to go down and raid Steve’s kitchen.  
  
He knew it would be useless to try and sneak away from the Ninja SEAL. Instead he turned on his side, kissing Steve on the nose. He had to smile at the confused frown that formed before Steve remembered who was in bed with him. His overly long lashes fluttered up and he smiled sleepily at Danny.  
  
“You’re still here,” Steve said in a sleep laden voice.  
  
“Yep. I would be even if you weren’t basically holding me hostage,” Danny told him, making Steve chuckle.  
  
“Uh huh. What time is it?”  
  
“About 11:30. I need to go down for something to eat,” Danny said, his stomach growling in proof.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “I’ll come with.”  
  
“Are you hungry?” Danny asked as Steve sat up. Danny kept a close eye on Steve to make sure he was still continuing to recover from the yrani.  
  
“Yeah, I think so,” Steve said. “I’m definitely thirsty.”  
  
“Can you make it downstairs?” Danny asked, leaving his side of the bed and coming around to Steve’s to look down at him.   
  
“The nap helped,” Steve admitted reluctantly. He carefully left the bed, glad he could stand on his own two feet. He was feeling much more like himself, the yrani 90% gone from his system.  
  
“Good,” Danny said, going downstairs and keeping an eye on Steve. As Steve went into the kitchen, Danny detoured by the laundry room to pull on a pair of Steve’s shorts and a tee shirt. When he got to the kitchen, he was happy to see Steve making a pot of coffee. “So….” Danny said, leaning against the cabinet to study Steve.  
  
“Yeah?” Steve prompted, switching on the coffee pot before turning his focus on Danny. “What?”  
  
“It’s officially official then? We’re an ‘item’?” Danny asked with air quotes.  
  
“Yep,” Steve agreed. “Just like the island thinks already.”  
  
“And things aren’t going to get weird at work, right? I mean, I know the no-fraternization rule doesn’t apply to us but it exists for a reason.”  
  
“Do you honestly believe our personal relationship will change the way we do things? Really? Have you met us?” Steve asked, making Danny laugh.  
  
“There is that,” Danny said. “You’re my first boyfriend, by the way.”  
  
“And your last,” Steve informed him. “Just so we’re clear on that.”  
  
“You are such a Neanderthal,” Danny said. “Make me pancakes.”  
  
“Fine,” Steve said.  
  
“Have you dated a guy before?” Danny asked as Steve got the ingredients for pancakes.  
  
“No. Never found one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” Steve said.  
  
“Whoa. Slow down, babe. It’s a little early in the game to be talking like that.”  
  
“Of course it’s not,” Steve said. “We’re inevitable. Like sunshine in Hawaii. And the Jets sucking at football. We’re it for us.”  
  
“Are you sure there isn’t still yrani in your system? You’re talking crazy.”  
  
“Nope. Telling the truth. I don’t know why you’re bothering to deny it when you know it’s true,” Steve told him as he stirred the pancake batter.  
  
“I don’t know any such thing. I didn’t know until Kono told me that you morph genders too,” Danny said.  
  
“Well, now you do. There isn’t anything about me that I’m allowed to reveal that you don’t know.”  
  
“You are a very exasperating person,” Danny announced.  
  
“But you already knew that,” Steve pointed out. “Are you going to call Grace and tell her you can morph?”  
  
“She’s in school. Maybe I’ll surprise her when she gets here,” Danny said with a smile at the idea.  
  
“Then you can take her swimming,” Steve agreed. “She’ll love that you’re going to live here full time.”  
  
Danny shook his head, sitting at the table to put his head in his hands. “Must you move at supersonic speed?”  
  
“Yep. Inevitable,” Steve said as though that explained it all.  
  
“Like it’s inevitable that you’ll get me killed one day? That you’ll rush in where angels fear to tread and that will be that?”  
  
“Something like that,” Steve said, giving Danny a pile of pancakes and the bottle of syrup. He also poured him a cup of coffee, getting the cream and sugar for him.   
  
“Bacon?” Danny asked around a mouthful of pancakes.  
  
“I don’t have any,” Steve said, sitting down with a much smaller pile of pancakes.  
  
“Freak,” Danny said, practically shoveling in the food.  
  
“If you want bacon in the house, we’ll have bacon in the house,” Steve told him as though it was a foregone conclusion.  
  
“I have a perfectly fine apartment where there is already bacon in the refrigerator.”  
  
“Your apartment is a hellhole. The sooner you move in here the better. We’ll get the gang to help next weekend. It’s the end of the month. Then you won’t have to waste money on next month’s rent.”  
  
Danny shook his head but didn’t bother to argue. Steve had made a plan. What chance did Danny have to waylay it? And in truth, he was more than happy to go along with Steve’s agenda. It just wouldn’t do to let Steve know he was that easy.  
  
“Who took you? Do you know?” Danny asked, deciding their personal lives would sort themselves out. Or Steve would just continue to make all the decisions for them both.  
  
“Don’t you?” Steve asked.  
  
“We think it was a Hesse,” Danny said. “Do you know Julian Hesse?”  
  
“Unfortunately, I’ve heard of him,” Steve confirmed. “He wasn’t one of the abductors. They were hired hands.”  
  
“Who is Wo Fat?” Danny asked.  
  
“No idea,” Steve said. “I’m hoping Chin and Kono can find out. The hired hands were determined that I was going to tell them where to find this Wo Fat. How did you find me?”  
  
Danny told him the trails they had followed, the information they had gathered from various sources.  
  
“And you didn’t arrest Meu Nikwai?” Steve asked in displeasure.  
  
“No because she’s going to call us when Julian Hesse returns to buy more yrani,” Danny told him.  
  
“Why would he buy more? He knows he’s not going to get to me again,” Steve said.  
  
“How would he know that? You’re a valuable asset and he’s not going to let you go so easily. Which is one more reason that the alarm company is coming this weekend to install an alarm on the house.”  
  
“Fine,” Steve agreed more easily than Danny had thought possible. Maybe Steve saw it as a way to protect Danny and in turn Grace.  
  
“You need to take a shower,” Danny said when he’d finally had enough pancakes. “I’ll clean this up.”  
  
“You could come with,” Steve suggested with what Danny was sure Steve thought was a come—hither expression. Mostly it looked like Steve’s pancakes had gone down the wrong way.  
  
“I could but I’m not,” Danny said. He collected the plates, turning around when Steve lay a warm hand on his shoulder. He welcomed it when Steve leaned down to plant a syrupy sweet kiss on his mouth.  
  
“More where that came from,” Steve said, his eyebrows doing a ridiculous little dance that was far more amusing than seductive.  
  
“But not in the shower,” Danny said, reaching up to kiss him again. “Go shower. Put on jeans. Then we’ll watch something mindless on TV until Grace gets here.”  
  
“All right,” Steve finally conceded.  
  
“Do you have enough food to feed us for dinner?”  
  
“I have some ground beef we can use for hamburgers,” Steve said over his shoulder as he left the kitchen to go upstairs.  
  
“No morphing,” Danny called behind him, getting Steve’s grumpy ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ in response.  
  
~0~  
  
“Uncle Steve,” Grace said when Steve had the front door open. Steve was a little surprised that Grace called him ‘Uncle,’ surprised and delighted in equal measures. He was also delighted when she threw herself at him. “I’m so happy you are all better.”  
  
“I am too,” Steve said, kneeling down to hug her. He helped her out of her backpack, placing it by the stairway.   
  
“Did Danno catch the bad guys?” Grace asked.  
  
“One of them. We’ll find the rest,” Steve promised her.  
  
“Good. Then they can’t take you again,” Grace said.  
  
“Exactly,” Steve agreed.  
  
“Where’s Danno?” Grace asked, looking around the living room.  
  
“Outside. Should we go say hello?” Steve asked, holding out one hand. She took his, holding it firmly like it came completely natural to her.  
  
“Is he swimming?” Grace asked as Steve opened the back door.  
  
“Not yet,” Steve said, waiting on the lanai as Grace continued into the yard. When she spotted Danny, she squealed in pure happiness.  
  
“Danno,” Grace said, running up to the golden stallion watching for her. He was the same color as the lion had been, his mane and tail the color of Danny’s hair. “You can morph again.”  
  
Danny the horse nodded his big head, nuzzling Grace. She giggled in delight.   
  
“Will you take us for a ride?” Grace asked, nearly vibrating in excitement.  
  
The horse nodded again, looking up the backyard at Steve.  
  
“I’m coming,” Steve laughed. Much more easily than anyone had the right to do, Steve flung himself up onto Danny’s back, reaching a hand down for Grace. “My lady.”  
  
She laughed and grabbed hold of his hand so he could hoist her up in front of him. Steve reached around her to hold onto Danny’s mane, securing them both.  
  
Danny looked around to check on them, his eyes the same blue as always.  
  
“We’re ready,” Steve told him.  
  
“Go Danno,” Grace said, patting his neck. Danny tossed his head, walking down to the water’s edge.  
   
They rode along the shore for half an hour until Grace declared that she was ready to swim. Danny brought them back home, waiting patiently as Steve dismounted then helped Grace down.  
  
“Run in and put on your suit,” Steve said when they were standing in the backyard.  
  
“’Kay,” she agreed, running up into the house. When he was sure the door was closed behind her, he turned to watch Danny. He slid easily from horse to dolphin, making his way into the waves.   
  
He chattered with Steve who understood what he meant even though he didn’t understand the words.  
  
“I know I can’t swim,” Steve assured him. “I’m going to sit right here in this chair.”  
  
The dolphin chattered again, staring at him.  
  
“What? You’d know if I came in. I’m not going to.”  
  
The dolphin nodded at that, looking back up toward the house when Grace ran out of it and straight down to the water.  
  
“I’m ready, Danno,” she squealed, her voice nearly as high pitched at the dolphin.  
  
“Have fun, Gracie,” Steve said, watching her wade in and grab hold of the dolphin’s fin.   
  
As much as he wished he could join their swim, it was delightful to watch them. And he knew there would be plenty of chances in the future for all three of them to swim. Maybe they would be swimming with Grace if she inherited her father’s abilities.


End file.
